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THE WORKS 


OF 


J. FENIMORE COOPER. 


WING-AND-WING, 

COMPLETE IN ONE VOLUME. 


NEW YORK: 
GEORGE P. PUTNAM. 
1851 . 

















. 











THE 


W I N G-A N D-ff I N G; 


O'R , 

LE FEU-FOLLET. 


1 Cab. 

% \ 

BY THE AUTHOR OF 

“THE DEERSLAYER,” “THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS,” 
“ THE PATHFINDER.” “ THE PIONEERS,” “ THE PRAIRIE,” 
“PILOT,” “RED ROVER,” AND “WATER WITCH.” 


Know, 

Without star or angel for their guide, 

Who worship God shall find him. 

Younq. 


COMPLETE IN ONE VOLEME. 

REVISED AND CORRECTED, 

/ 

WITH A NEW INTRODUCTION, NOTES, &c., 

33g tl)c Author. 


f 


} 


) 


> 


J 


NEW YORK: 

GEORGE P. PUTNAM, 155 BROADWAY 

1851. 


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6 


(LA 


9,b 


\\ f s- 


Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1851, by 
STRINGER & TOWNSEND, 

in the Clerk’s Office of the District Court for the Southern District of New York. 


Gift from 

the Estate of Miss Ruth Putnam 

Sept. 14,1931 



t 


c 





R. Craighead , Printer and Sttreotyper , 
112 Fulton Street. 






/ . 



PREFACE. 


S3 


It is difficult to say of which there is most in the 
world, a blind belief in religious dogmas, or a pre- 
sumptuous and ignorant cavilling on revelation. The 
impression has gone abroad, that France was an 
example of the last, during the height of her great 
revolutionary mania; a charge that was scarcely true, 
as respects the nation, however just it might be in 
connexion with her bolder and more unquiet spirits. 
Most of the excesses of France, during that momentous 
period, were to be attributed to the agency of a few, 
the bulk of the nation having little to do with any part 
of them, beyond yielding their physical and pecuniary 
aid to an audacious and mystifying political combi- 
nation. One of the baneful results, however, of these 
great errors of the times, was the letting loose of the 
audacious from all the venerable and healthful restraints 
of the church, to set them afloat on the sea of specu- 
lation and conceit. There is something so gratifying 
to human vanity in fancying ourselves superior to 
most around us, that we believe few young men attain 
their majority, without imbibing more or less of the 
taint of unbelief, and passing through the mists of 
a vapid moral atmosphere, before they come to the 


VI 


PREFACE. 


clear, manly, and yet humble perceptions that teach 
most of us, in the end, our own insignificance, the 
great benevolence as well as wisdom of the scheme 
of redemption, and the philosophy of the Christian 
religion, as well as its divinity. 

Perhaps the greatest stumbling-block of the young, 
is a disposition not to yield their belief unless it 
conforms to their own crude notions of propriety 
and reason. If the powers of man were equal to 
analysing the nature of the Deity, to comprehending 
his being, and power, and motives, there would be 
some little show of sense in thus setting up the pretence 
of satisfying our judgments in all things, before we 
yield our credence to a religious system. But, the 
first step w r e take, brings w T ith it the instructive lesson 
of our incapacity, and teaches the w r holesome lesson 
of humility. From arrogantly claiming a right to 
worship a deity we comprehend, w r e soon come to 
feel that the impenetrable veil that is cast around the 
God-head, is an indispensable condition of our faith, 
reverence, and submission. A being that can be 
comprehended, is not a being to be worshipped. 

In this book, there is an attempt to set these con- 
flicting tendencies in a full but amicable contrast to 
each other. We believe, there is nothing in the 
design opposed to probability ; and it seems to us, that 
the amiable tenderness of a confiding but just-viewing 
female heart, might, under the circumstances, be 
expected to manifest the mingled weakness and strength 
that it has here been our aim to portray. 

We acknowledge a strong paternal feeling in behalf 
of this book, placing it very high in the estimate of 
its merits, as compared w T ith other books from the 
same pen : a species of commendation that need w r ound 


PREFACE. 


Vll 


no man. Perhaps some knowledge of Italian charac- 
ter is necessary to enjoy the vice-governatore (veechy- 
gov-er-na4o-re), and the podestd ; but we confess they 
have given us, in reading over these pages for the 
first time since they were written, quite as much 
amusement as if they were altogether from an unknown 
hand. 

As for the Mediterranean, that unrivalled sea, its 
pictures always afford us delight. The hue of the water ; 
the delicious and voluptuous calm ; the breathings of 
the storm from the Alps and Apennines ; the noble 
mountain-sides basking in the light of the region, or 
shrouded in mists that increase their grandeur ; the 
picturesque craft ; the islands, bays, rocks, volcanoes, 
and the thousand objects of art, contribute to render 
it the centre of all that is delightful and soothing to 
both the mind and the senses. 

The reader will recollect the painful history of 
Caraccioli. We have taken some liberties with his 
private history, admitting frankly that we have no 
other authority for them than that which we share in 
common with all writers of romance. The grand- 
daughter we have given the unfortunate admiral, is 
so much in accordance with Italian practices, that no 
wrong is done to the morale of Naples, whatever may 
be the extent of the liberty taken with the individual. 

Nelson seems to have lived and died under the 
influence of the unprincipled woman who then governed 
him with the arts of a siren. His nature was noble, 
and his moral impressions, even, were not bad ; but 
his simple and confiding nature was not equal to 
contending with one as practised in profligacy, as the 
woman into whose arms he was thrown, at a most 
evil moment for his reputation. 


Vlll 


PREFACE. 


There is nothing more repugnant to the general 
sense of rights, than the prostitution of public justice 
to the purposes of private vengeance. Such would 
seem to have been the reason of the very general 
odium attached to the execution of Admiral Prince 
Caraccioli/ who was the victim of circumstances, 
rather than the promoter of treason. The whole 
transaction makes a melancholy episode in the history 
of modern Europe. We have made such use of it 
as is permitted to fiction, neither neglecting the leading 
and known facts of the event, nor adhering to the 
minuter circumstances more closely than the con- 
nexion of our tale demanded. 


WIN G-AND-W1N G. 


CHAPTER I. 

“ Filled with the face of heaven, which from afar 
Comes down upon the waters ; all its hues, 

From the rich sunset to the rising star, 

Their magical variety diffuse : 

And now they change : a paler shadow strews 
Its mantle o’er the mountains ; parting day 
Dies like the dolphin, whom each pang imbues 
With a new color as it gasps away, 

The last still loveliest, till — ’tis gone — and all is grey.” 

Childe Harold. 

The charms of the Tyrrhenian Sea have been sung since the 
days of Homer. That the Mediterranean generally, and its 
beautiful boundaries of Alps and Apennines, with its deeply 
indented and irregular shores, forms the most delightful region 
of the known earth, in all that relates to climate, productions, 
and physical formation, will be readily enough conceded by the 
traveller. The countries that border on this midland water, 
with their promontories buttressing a mimic ocean — their 
mountain-sides teeming with the picturesque of human life — - 
their heights crowned with watch-towers — their rocky shelves 
consecrated by hermitages, and their unrivalled sheet dotted 
with sails, rigged, as it might be, expressly to produce effect in 
a picture, form a sort of world apart, that is replete with charms 
which not only fascinate the beholder, but which linger in the 
memories of the absent like visions of a glorious past. 

Our present business is with this fragment of a creation that 

1 * 


10 


WING-AND-WING. 


\ 


is so eminently beautiful, even in its worst aspects, but which is 
so often marred by the passions of man, in its best. While all 
admit how much nature has done for the Mediterranean, none 
will deny that, until quite recently, it has been the scene of 
more ruthless violence, and of deeper personal wrongs, perhaps, 
than any other portion of the globe. With different races, 
more widely separated by destinies, than even by origin, habits, 
and religion, occupying its northern and southern shores, the 
outwork, as it might be, of Christianity and Mohammedanism, 
and of an antiquity that defies history, the bosom of this blue 
expanse has mirrored more violence, has witnessed more scenes 
of slaughter, and heard more shouts of victory, between the 
days of Agamemnon and Nelson, than all the rest of the 
dominions of Neptune together. Nature and the passions have 
united to render it like the human countenance, which conceals 
by its smiles and godlike expression, the furnace that so often 
glows within the heart, and the volcano that consumes our 
happiness. For centuries, the Turk and the Moor rendered it 
unsafe for the European to navigate these smiling coasts ; and 
when the barbarian’s power temporarily ceased, it was merely 
to give place to the struggles of those who drove him from the 
arena. 

The circumstances which rendered the period that occurred 
between the years 1790 and 1815, the most eventful of modern 
times, are familiar to all ; though the incidents which chequered 
that memorable quarter of a century have already passed into 
[ history. ATT the elements of strife that then agitated the world, 
appear now to have subsided as completely as if they owed 
their existence to a remote age ; and living men recall the 
events of their youth as they regard the recorded incidents 
of other centuries. Then, each month brought its defeat or its 
victory ; its account of a government overturned, or of a 
province conquered. The world was agitated like men in a 
tumult. On that epoch the timid look back with wonder ; the 
young with doubt ; and the restless with envy. 

The years 1798 and 1799 were two of the most memorable 


WING-AND-WING. 


11 


of this ever-memorable period ; and to that stirring and teeming 
season we must carry the mind of the reader, in order to place 
it in the midst of the scenes it is our object to portray. 

Towards the close of a fine day in the month of August, 
a light fairy-like craft was fanning her way before a gentle 
westerly air, into what is called the Canal of Piombino, steering 
easterly. The rigs of the Mediterranean are proverbial for their 
picturesque beauty and quaintness, embracing the xebeque, the 
felucca, the polacre, and the bombarda, or ketch ; all unknown, 
or nearly so, to our own seas ; and occasionally the lugger. 
The latter, a species of craft, however, much less common in 
the waters of Italy than in the Bay of Biscay and the British 
Channel, was the construction of the vessel in question ; a 
circumstance that the mariners who eyed her from the shores 
of Elba, deemed indicative of mischief. A three-masted lugger, 
that spread a wide breadth of canvas, with a low, dark hull, 
relieved by a single and almost imperceptible line of red 
beneath her channels, and a waist so deep that nothing was 
visible above it but the hat of some mariner taller than 
common, w T as considered a suspicious vessel ; and not even 
a fisherman would have ventured out within reach of a shot, so 
long as her character was unknown. Privateers, or Corsairs, as 
it was the fashion to term them (and the name, with even 
its English signification, was often merited by their acts), not 
unfrequently glided down that coast; and it was sometimes 
dangerous for those who belonged to friendly nations to meet 
them, in moments when the plunder that a relic of barba- 
rism still legalizes, had failed. 

The lugger was actually of about one hundred and eighty 
tons admeasurement, but her dark paint and low hull gave 
her an appearance of being much smaller than she really 
was ; still, the spread of her canvas, as she came down 
before the wind, wing-and-wing, as seamen term it, or with 
a sail fanning like the heavy pinions of a sea-fowl, on each 
side, betrayed her pursuits ; and, as has been intimated, 
the mariners on the shore who watched her movements, shook 


12 


WING-AND-WIN6. 


their heads in distrust as they communed among themselves, in 
very indifferent Italian, concerning her destination and object. 
This observation, with its accompanying discourse, occurred 
on the rocky bluff above the town of Porto Ferrajo, in the 
Island of Elba, a spot that has since become so renowned 
as the capital of the mimic dominion of Napoleon. Indeed, 
the very dwelling which was subsequently used by the 
fallen emperor as a palace, stood within a hundred yards 
of the speakers, looking out towards the entrance of the canal, 
and the mountains of Tuscany ; or rather of the little principal- 
ity of Piombino, the system of merging the smaller in the 
larger states of Europe not having yet been brought into 
extensive operation. This house, a building of the size of a 
better sort of country residence of our own, was then, as now, 
occupied by the Florentine governor of the Tuscan portion 
of the island. It stands on the extremity of a low rocky pro- 
montory that forms the western ramparts of the deep extensive 
bay, on the side of which, ensconced behind a very convenient 
curvature of the rocks, which here incline westward in the form 
of a hook, lies the small port, completely concealed from the 
sea, as if in dread of visits like those which might be expected 
from craft resembling the suspicious stranger. This little port, 
not as large in itself as a modern dock in places like London 
or Liverpool, was sufficiently protected against any probable 
dangers, by suitable batteries ; and as for the elements, a 
vessel laid upon a shelf in a closet would be scarcely more 
secure. In this domestic little basin, which, with the exception 
of a narrow entrance, was completely surrounded by buildings, 
lay a few feluccas, that traded between the island and the 
adjacent main, and a solitary Austrian ship, which had come 
from the head of the Adriatic, in quest of iron. 

At the moment of which we are writing, however, but a 
dozen living beings were visible in or about all these craft. 
The intelligence that a strange lugger, resembling the one 
described, was in the offing, had drawn nearly all the mariners 
ashore ; and most of the habitues of the port had followed 


WIN6-AND-WING. 


13 


them up the broad steps of the crooked streets which led to the 
heights behind the town ; or to the rocky elevation that 
overlooks the sea from north-east to west. The approach 
of the lugger produced some such effect on the mariners of this 
unsophisticated and little frequented port, as that of the hawk is 
known to excite among the timid tenants of the barn-yard. 
The rig of the stranger had been noted two hours before by one 
or two old coasters, who habitually passed their idle moments on 
the heights, examining the signs of the weather, and indulging 
in gossip ; and their conjectures had drawn to the Porto Ferrajo 
mall some twenty men, who fancied themselves, or who actually 
were, cognoscenti in matters of the sea. When, however, the 
low, long, dark hull, which upheld such wide sheets of canvas, 
became fairly visible, the omens thickened, rumors spread,— 
and hundreds collected on the spot, which, in Manhattanese 
parlance, would probably have been called a battery. Nor 
would the name have been altogether inappropriate, as a small 
battery was established there, and that, too, in a position which 
would easily throw a shot two thirds of a league, into the 
offing; or about the distance that the stranger was now 
from the shore. 

Tommaso Tonti was the oldest mariner of Elba, and luckily, 
being a sober, and usually a discreet man, he was the oracle of 
the island in most things that related to the sea. As each 
citizen, wine-dealer, grocer, innkeeper, or worker in iron, came 
up on the height, he incontinently inquired for Tonti, or ’Maso, 
as he was generally called ; and getting the bearings and 
distance of the grey-headed old seaman, he invariably made his 
way to his side, until a group of some two hundred men, women, 
and children, had clustered near the person of the pilota , as the 
faithful gather about a favorite expounder of the law, in 
moments of religious excitement. It was worthy of remark, too, 
with how much consideration this little crowd of gentle Italians 
treated their aged seaman, on this occasion ; none bawling out 
their questions, and all using the greatest care not to get in 
front of his person, lest they might intercept his means of obser- 


14 


WING-AND-WING', 


vation. Five or six old sailors, like himself, were close at 
his side : these, it is true, did not hesitate to speak as became 
their experience. But Tonti had obtained no small part of his 
reputation by exercising great moderation in delivering his 
oracles, and perhaps by seeming to know more than he actually 
revealed. Fie was reserved, therefore ; and while his brethren 
of the sea ventured on sundry conflicting opinions concerning 
the character of the stranger, and a hundred idle conjectures had 
flown from mouth to mouth, among the landsmen and females, 
not a syllable that could commit the old man escaped his lips. 
He let the others talk at will ; as for himself, it suited his 
habits, and possibly his doubts, to maintain a grave and porten- 
tous silence. 

We have spoken of females : as a matter of course, an event 
like this, in a town of some three or four thousand souls, would 
be likely to draw a due proportion of the gentler sex to the 
heights. Most of them contrived to get as near as possible to 
the aged seaman, in order to obtain the first intelligence, that it 
might be the sooner circulated ; but it would seem that among 
the younger of these there was also a sort of oracle of their own, 
about whose person gathered a dozen of the prettiest girls ; 
either anxious to hear what Ghita might have to say in the 
premises, or, perhaps, influenced by the pride and modesty of 
their sex and condition, which taught them to maintain a little 
more reserve than was necessary to the less refined portion 
of their companions. In speaking of condition, however, the 
word must be understood with an exceedingly limited meaning. 
Porto Ferrajo had but two classes of society, the tradespeople 
and the laborers ; although there were, perhaps, a dozen excep- 
tions in the persons of a few humble functionaries of the govern- 
ment, an avvoeato, a medico, and a few priests. The governor 
of the island was a Tuscan of rank, but he seldom honored 
the place with his presence ; and his deputy was a professional 
man, a native of the town, whose original position was too well 
known to allow him to give himself airs on the spot where 
he was born. Ghita’s companions, then, were daughters of 


WIN G-AND-WING, 


15 


shopkeepers, and persons of that class who, having been taught 
to read, and occasionally going to Leghorn, besides being 
admitted by the deputy to the presence of his housekeeper, had 
got to regard themselves as a little elevated above the more 
vulgar curiosity of the less cultivated girls of the port. Ghita 
herself, however, owed her ascendency to her qualities, rather 
than to the adventitious advantage of being a grocer’s or an inn- 
keeper’s daughter, her origin being unknown to most of those 
around her, as indeed was her family name. She had been landed 
six weeks before, and left by one who passed for her father, at the 
inn of Christoforo Dovi, as a boarder, and had acquired all her 
influence, as so many reach notoriety in our own simple society, by 
the distinction of having travelled ; aided, somewhat, by her strong 
sense,’ great decision of character, perfect modesty and propriety 
of deportment, with a form which was singularly graceful 
and feminine, and a face that, while it could scarcely be called 
beautiful, was in the highest degree winning and attractive. 
No one thought of asking her family name ; and she never 
appeared to deem it necessary to mention it. Ghita was suffi- 
cient ; it was familiar to every one ; and, although there were 
two or three others of the same appellation in Porto Ferrajo, 
this, by common consent, got to be the Ghita, within a week 
after she had landed. 

Ghita, it was known, had travelled, for she had publicly 
reached Elba in a felucca, coming, as was said, from the 
Neapolitan states. If this w T ere true, she was probably the 
only person of her sex in the town who had ever seen Vesuvius, 
or planted her eyes on the wonders of a part of Italy that has 
a reputation second only to that of Rome. Of course, if any 
girl in Porto Ferrajo could imagine the character of the stran- 
ger, it must be Ghita ; and it was on this supposition that she 
had unwittingly, and, if the truth must be owned, unwillingly, 
collected around her a clientelle of at least a dozen girls of her 
own age, and apparently of her own class. The latter, however, 
felt no necessity for the reserve maintained by the curious who 
pressed near ’Maso ; for, while they respected their guest and 


10 


WING-AND-WING. 


friend, and would rather listen to her surmises than to those of 
any other person, they had such a prompting desire to hear 
their own voices, that not a minute escaped without a question, 
or a conjecture, both volubly and quite audibly expressed. The 
interjections, too, were somewhat numerous, as the guesses were 
crude and absurd. One said it was a vessel with despatches 
from Livorno, possibly with “ His Eccellenza” on board ; but 
she was reminded that Leghorn lay to the north, and not to the 
west. Another thought it was a cargo of priests, going from 
Corsica to Rome ; but she was told that priests were not in 
sufficient favor just then in France, to get a vessel so obviously 
superior to the ordinary craft of the Mediterranean, to carry 
them about. While a third, more imaginative than either, ven- 
tured to doubt whether it was a vessel at all ; deceptive appear- 
ances of this sort not being of rare occurrence, and usually 
taking the aspect of something out of the ordinary way. 

“ Si” said Annina, “ but that would be a miracle, Maria ; 
and why should we have a miracle, now that Lent and most of 
the holidays are past ? I believe it is a real vessel.” 

The others laughed, and, after a good deal of eager chatter- 
ing on the subject, it was quite generally admitted that the 
stranger was a bona fide craft, of some species or another, 
though all agreed she was not a felucca, a bombarda, or a 
sparanara. All this time Ghita was thoughtful and silent ; 
quite as much so, indeed, as Tommaso himself, though from a 
very different motive. Notwithstanding all the gossip, and the 
many ludicrous opinions of her companions, her eyes scarcely 
turned an instant from the lugger, on which they seemed to be 
riveted by a sort of fascination. Had there been one there, 
sufficiently unoccupied to observe this interesting girl, he might 
have been struck with the varying expression of a countenance 
that was teeming with sensibility, and which too often reflected 
the passing emotions of its mistress’s mind. Now an expres- 
sion of anxiety, and even of alarm, would have been detected 
by such an observer, if acute enough to separate these emotions, 
in the liveliness of sentiment, from the more vulgar feelings of 


WING-AND-WING, 


17 


lier companions ; and now, something like gleamings of delight 
and happiness flashed across her eloquent countenance. The 
color came and went often ; and there was an instant, during 
which the lugger varied her course, hauling to the wind, and 
then falling off again, like a dolphin at its sports, when the 
radiance of the pleasure that glowed about her soft blue eyes, 
rendered the girl perfectly beautiful. But none of these passing 
expressions were noticed by the garrulous group around the 
stranger female, who was left very much to the indulgence of 
the impulses that gave them birth, unquestioned, and altogether 
unsuspected. 

Although the cluster of girls had, with feminine sensitive- 
ness, gathered a little apart from the general crowd, there were 
but a few yards between the spot where it stood, and that occu- 
pied by ’Maso ; so that when the latter spoke, an attentive lis- 
tener among the former might hear his words. This was an 
office that Tonti did not choose to undertake, however, until he 
was questioned by the podesta, Vito Viti, who now appeared on 
the hill in person, puffing like a whale that rises to breathe, 
from the vigor of his ascent. 

“ What dost thou make of her, good ’Maso ?” demanded the 
magistrate, after he had examined the stranger himself some 
time in silence, feeling authorized, in virtue of his office, to 
question whom he pleased. 

“ Signore, it is a lugger,” was the brief, and certainly the 
accurate reply. 

“ Aye, a lugger ; we all understand that, neighbor Tonti ; but 
what sort of a lugger ? There are felucca-luggers, and polacre- 
luggers, and bombarda-luggers, and all sorts of luggers ; which 
sort of lugger is this ?” 

“ Signor Podesta, this is not the language of the port. 
We call a felucca, a felucca ; a bombarda, a bombarda ; a 
polacre, a polacre ; and a lugger, a lugger. This is therefore 
a lugger.” 

’Maso spoke authoritatively, for he felt that he was now not 
out of his depth, and it was grateful to him to let the public 


18 


WING-AND-WING. 


know how much better he understood all these matters than a 
magistrate. On the other hand, the podesta was nettled, and 
disappointed into the bargain, for he really imagined he was 
drawing nice distinctions, much as it was his wont to do in 
legal proceedings ; and it was his ambition to be thought to 
know something of everything. 

“ Well, Tonti,” answered Signor Viti, in a protecting manner, 
and with an affable smile, “ as this is not an affair that is likely 
to go to the higher courts at Florence, your explanations may 
be taken as sufficient, and I have no wish to disturb them — a 
lugger is a lugger.” 

“ Si, Signore ; that is just what we say in the port. A lugger 
is a lugger.” 

“ And yonder strange craft, you maintain, and at need are 
ready to swear, is a lugger ?” 

Now ’Maso seeing no necessity for any oath in the affair, and 
being always somewhat conscientious in such matters, whenever 
the custom-house officers did not hold the book, was a little 
startled at this suggestion, and he took another and a long look 
at the stranger beofre he answered. 

“ Si, Signore,” he replied, after satisfying his mind once more, 
through his eyes, “ I will swear that the stranger yonder is a 
lugger.” 

“ And canst thou add, honest Tonti, of what nation ? The 
nation is of as much moment in these troubled times, as the rig? 

“ You say truly, Signor Podesta ; for if an Algerine, or a 
Moor, or even a Frenchman, he will be an unwelcome visitor in 
the Canal of Elba. There are many different signs about him, 
that sometimes make me think he belongs to one people, and 
then to another ; and I crave your pardon if I ask a little 
leisure to let him draw nearer, before I give a positive opinion.” 

As this request was reasonable, no objection was raised, 
The podesta turned aside, and observing Ghita, who had visited 
his niece, and of whose intelligence he entertained a favorable 
opinion, he drew nearer to the girl, determined to lose a moment 
in dignified trifling. 


W I N G - A N D - W I N G . 


19 


“ Honest ’Maso, poor fellow, is sadly puzzled,” lie observed, 
smiling benevolently, as if in pity for the pilot’s embarrass- 
ment ; “ he wishes to persuade us that the strange craft yonder 
is a lugger, though he cannot himself say to what country she 
belongs !” 

“ It is a lugger, Signore,” returned the girl, drawing a long 
breath, as if relieved by hearing the sound of her own voice. 

“ How ! dost thou pretend to be so skilled in vessels as to 
distinguish these particulars at the distance of a league ?” 

“ I do not think it a league, Signore — not more than half a 
league ; and the distance lessens fast, though the wind is so 
light. As for knowing a lugger from a felucca, it is as easy as 
to know a house from a church, or one of the reverend padri, 
in the streets, from a mariner.” 

“ A y e > so I would have told ’Maso on the spot, had the obsti- 
nate old fellow been inclined to hear me. The distance is just 
about what you say ; and nothing is easier than to see that the 
stranger is a lugger. As to the nation — ?” 

“ That may not be so easily told, Signore, unless the vessel 
show us her flag.” 

“ By San Antonio ! thou art light, child ; and it is fitting she 
should show us her flag. Nothing has a right to approach so 
near the port of his Imperial and Royal Highness, that does 
not show its flag, thereby declaring its honest purpose and its 
nation. My friends, are the guns in the battery loaded as 
usual ?” 

The answer being in the affirmative, there was a hurried con- 
sultation among some of the principal men in the crowd, and 
then the podesta walked towards the government-house with 
an important air. In five minutes, soldiers were seen in the 
batteries, and preparations were made for levelling an eighteen- 
pounder in the direction of the stranger. Most of the females 
turned aside, and stopped their ears, the battery being within 
a hundred yards of the spot where they stood ; but Ghita, with 
a face that was pale certainly, though with an eye that was 
steady, and without the least indications of fear, as respected 


20 


WING-AND-WING. 


herself, intensely watched every movement. When it was evi- 
dent the artillerists w T ere about to tire, anxiety induced her to 
break silence. 

“ They surely will not aim at the lugger !” she exclaimed. 
“ That cannot be necessary, Signor Podesta, to make the stran- 
ger hoist his flag. Never have I seen that done in the south.” 

“You are unacquainted with our Tuscan bombardiers, 
Signorina,” answered the magistrate, with a bland smile, and 
an exulting gesture. “It is well for Europe that the grand 
duchy is so small, since such troops might prove even more 
troublesome than the French !” 

Ghita, however, paid no attention to this touch of provincial 
pride, but pressing her hands on her heart, she stood like a 
statue of suspense, while the men in the battery executed their 
duty. In a minute the match was applied, and the gun was 
discharged. Though all her companions uttered invocations to 
the saints, and other exclamations, and some even crouched to 
the earth in terror, Ghita, the most delicate of any in appear- 
ance, and with more real sensibility than all united expressed in 
her face, stood firm and erect. The flash and the explosion 
evidently had no effect on her ; not an artillerist among them 
was less unmoved in frame, at the report, than this slight girl. 
She even imitated the manner of the soldiers, by turning to 
watch the flight of the shot, though she clasped her hands as 
she did so, and appeared to await the result with trembling. 
The few seconds of suspense were soon past, when the ball was 
seen to strike the water fully a quarter of a mile astern of the 
lugger, and to skip along the placid sea for twice that distance 
further, when it sank to the bottom by its own gravity. 

“ Santa Maria be praised !” murmured the girl, a smile half 
pleasure, half irony, lighting her face, as unconsciously to her- 
self she spoke, “these Tuscan artillerists are no fatal marks- 
men !” 

“ That was most dexterously done, bella Ghita !” exclaimed 
the magistrate, removing his two hands from his ears ; “ that 
was amazingly well aimed ! Another such shot as far ahead, 


v 


WING-AND-WING 


21 


with a third fairly between the two, and the stranger will learn 
to respect the rights of Tuscany. What say’st thou now, 
honest ’Maso — will this lugger tell us her country, or will she 
further brave our power ?” 

“ If wise, she will hoist her ensign ; and yet I see no signs of 
preparation for such an act.” 

Sure enough, the stranger, though quite within effective range 
of shot from the heights, showed no disposition to gratify the 
curiosity, or to appease the apprehensions of those in the town. 
Two or three of her people were visible in her rigging, but even 
these did not hasten their work, or in any manner seem 
deranged at the salutation they had just received. After a few 
minutes, however, the lugger jibed her mainsail, and then 
hauled up a little, to as to look more towards the headland, as 
if disposed to steer for the bay, by doubling the promontory. 
This movement caused the artillerists to suspend their own, and 
the lugger had fairly come within a mile of the cliffs, ere she lazily 
turned aside again, and shaped her course once more in the direc- 
tion of the entrance of the Canal. This drew another shot, which 
effectually justified the magistrate’s eulogy, for it certainly flew 
as much ahead of the stranger, as the first had flown astern. 

“ There, Signore,” cried Ghita eagerly, as she turned to the 
magistrate, “ they are about to hoist their ensign, for now they 
know your wishes. The soldiers surely will not fire again !” 

“ That would be in the teeth of the law of nations, Signorina, 
and a blot on Tuscan civilization. Ah ! you perceive the artil- 
lerists are aware of what you say, and are putting aside their 
tools. Cospetto ! ’tis a thousand pities, too, they couldn’t fire 
the third shot, that you might see it strike the lugger ; as yet 
you have only beheld their preparations.” 

“ It is enough, Signor Podesta,” returned Ghita, smiling, for 
she could smile now that she saw the soldiers intended no 
further mischief ; “ we have all heard of your Elba gunnel’s, 
and what I have seen convinces me of what they can do, when 
there is occasion. Look, Signore ! the lugger is about to satisfy 
our curiosity.” 


22 


WING-AND-WINGK 


Sure enough, the stranger saw fit to comply with the 
usages of nations. It has been said, already, that the lugger 
was coming down before the wind wing-and-wing, or with a 
sail expanded to the air on each side of her hull, a disposition 
of the canvas that gives to the felucca, and to the lugger in 
particular, the most picturesque of all their graceful attitudes. 
Unlike the narrow-headed sails that a want of hands has intro- 
duced among ourselves, these foreign, we might almost say clas- 
sical mariners, send forth their long pointed yards aloft, 
confining the width below by the necessary limits of the sheet, 
making up for the difference in elevation, by the greater breadth 
of their canvas. The idea of the felucca’s sails, in particular, 
would seem to have been literally taken from the wing of the 
large sea-fowl, the shape so nearly corresponding, that, with the 
canvas spread in the manner just mentioned, one of those light 
craft has a very close resemblance to the gull or the hawk, as it 
poises itself in the air or is sweeping down upon its prey. The 
lugger has less of the beauty that adorns a picture, perhaps, 
than the strictly latine rig ; but it approaches so near it as to be 
always pleasing to the eye, and, in the particular evolution 
described, is scarcely less attractive. To the seaman, however, 
it brings with it an air of greater service, being a mode of car- 
rying canvas that will buffet with the heaviest gales or the 
roughest seas, while it appeal's so pleasant to the eye in the 
blandest airs and smoothest water. 

The lugger that was now beneath the heights of Elba had 
three masts, though sails were spread only on the two that 
were forward. The third mast was stepped on the taffrail ; it 
w T as small, and carried a little sail, that, in English, is termed a 
jigger, its principal use being to press the bows of the craft up 
to the wind, when close hauled, and render her what is termed 
weatherly. On the present occasion, there could scarcely be 
said to be anything deserving the name of wind, though 
Ghita felt her cheek, which was warmed with the rich blood of 
her country, fanned by an air so gentle, that occasionally it blew 
aside tresses that seemed to vie with the floss silk of her native 


WING-AND-WING. 


23 


land. Had the natural ringlets been less light, however, so 
gentle a respiration of the sea air could scarcely have disturbed 
them. But the lugger had her lightest duck spread — reserving 
the heavier canvas for the storms — and it opened like the folds 
of a balloon, even before these gentle impulses ; occasionally 
collapsing, it is true, as the ground-swell swung the yards to and 
fro, but, on the whole, standing out and receiving the air, as if 
guided more by volition than any mechanical power. The 
effect on the hull was almost magical ; for, notwithstanding the 
nearly imperceptible force of the propelling power, owing to the 
lightness and exquisite mould of the craft, it served to urge her 
through the water at the rate of some three or four knots in the 
hour ; or quite as fast as an ordinarily active man is apt to walk. 
Her motion was nearly unobservable to all on board, and might 
rather be termed gliding than sailing, the ripple under her cut- 
water not much exceeding that which is made by the finger as 
it is moved swiftly through the element ; still the slightest 
variation of the helm changed her course, and this so easily and 
gracefully, as to render her deviations and inclinations like those 
of the duck. In her present situation, too, the jigger, which 
was brailed, and hung festooned from its light yard, ready for 
use, should occasion suddenly demand it, added singularly to 
the smart air which everything wore about this craft, giving her, 
in the seaman’s eyes, that particularly knowing and suspicious 
look which had awakened ’Maso’s distrust. 

The preparations to show the ensign, which caught the quick 
and understanding glance of Ghita, and which had not escaped 
even the duller vision of the artillerists, were made at the outer 
end of this jigger-yard. A boy appeared on the taffrail, and he 
was evidently clearing the ensign-halyards for that purpose. In 
half a minute, however, he disappeared ; then a flag rose 
steadily, and by a continued pull, to its station. At first the 
bunting hung suspended in a line, so as to evade all examina- 
tion ; but, as if everything on board this light craft were on a 
scale as airy and buoyant as herself, the folds soon expanded, 
showing a white field, traversed at right angles with a red cross, 


24 


WING-AND-WINC*. 


and having a union of the same tint in its upper and inner 
corner. 

“ Inglese ! ” exclaimed ’Maso, infinitely aided in this conjecture 
by the sight of the stranger’s ensign — “ Si, Signore ; it is an 
Englishman ; I thought so, from the first, but as the lugger is 
not a common rig for vessels of that nation, I did not like to 
risk anything by saying it.” 

“ Well, honest Tommaso, it is a happiness to have a mariner 
as skilful as yourself, in these troublesome times, at one’s elbow ! 
I do not know how else we should ever have found out the 
stranger’s country. An Inglese ! Corpo ai Bacco ! Who 
would have thought that a nation so maritime, and which lies 
so far off, would send so small a craft this vast distance ! Why, 
Gkita, it is a voyage from Elba to Livorno, and yet, I dare say, 
England is twenty times further.” 

“ Signore, I know little of England, but I have heard that it 
lies beyond our own sea. This is the flag of the country, how- 
ever ; for that have I often beheld. Many shins of that nation 
come upon the coast, further south.” 

“ Yes, it is a great country for mariners ; though they tell 
me it has neither wine nor oil. They are allies of ti )r, 

too ; and deadly enemies of the French, who have done so much 
harm in upper Italy. That is something, Ghita, and every 
Italian should honor the flag. I fear the stranger does not 
intend to enter our harbor !” 

“ ITe steers as if he did not, certainly, Signor Podesta,” said 
Ghita, sighing so gently that the respiration was audible only to 
herself. u Perhaps he is in search of some of the French, of 
which they say so many were seen, last year, going east,” 

“ Aye, that was truly an enterprise !” answered the magistrate, 
gesticulating on a large scale, and opening his eyes by way of 
accompaniments. “ General Bonaparte, he who had been play- 
ing the devil in the Milanese and the states of the Pope, for the 
last two years, sailed, they sent us word, with two or three 
hundred ships, the saints at first knew whither. Some said, it 
was to destroy the holy sepulchre ; some to overturn the Grand 




WIN G-AND-WIN G . 


25 


Turk; and some thought to seize the islands. There was a 
craft in here, the same week, which said he had got possession 
of the Island of Malta ; in which case we might look out for 
trouble in Elba. I had my suspicions, from the first !” 

“ All this I heard at the time, Signore, and my uncle probably 
could tell you more — how we all felt at the tidings !” 

“Well, that is all over now, and the French are in Egypt. 
Your uncle, Ghita, has gone upon the main, I hear ?” this was 
said inquiringly, and it was intended to be said carelessly ; but 
the podesta could not prevent a glance of suspicion from accom- 
panying the question. 

“ Signore, I believe he has ; but I know little of his affairs. 
The time has come, however, when I ought to expect him. 
See, Eccellenza,” a title that never failed to mollify the magis- 
trate, and turn his attention from others entirely to himself, “ the 
lugger really appears disposed to look into your bay, if not 
actual!^ to enter it !” 

Th.o sufficed to change the discourse. Nor was it said alto- 
gether without reason ; the lugger, which by this time had 
passed the western promontory, actually appearing disposed to do 
as Ghita c* djectured. She jibed her mainsail — brought both sheets 
of canvas on her larboard side, and luffed a little, so as to cause 
her head to look towards the opposite side of the bay, instead 
of standing on, as before, in the direction of the canal. This 
change in the lugger’s course produced a general movement in 
the crowd, which began to quit the heights, hastening to descend 
the terraced streets, in order to reach the haven. ’Maso and 
the podesta led the van, in this descent ; and the girls, with 
Ghita in their midst, followed with equal curiosity, but with 
eager steps. By the time the throng was assembled on the 
quays, in the streets, on the decks of feluccas, or at other points 
that commanded the view, the stranger was seen gliding past, 
in the centre of the wide and deep bay, with his jigger hauled 
out, and his sheets aft, looking up nearly into the wind’s eye, if 
that could be called wind, which was still little more than the sigh- 
ing of the classical zephyr. His motion was necessarily slow, but it 

2 






26 


WING-AND-WING. 


continued light, easy, and graceful. After passing the entrance 
of the port a mile or more, he tacked and looked up towards the 
haven. By this time, however, he had got so near in to the 
western cliffs, that their lee deprived him of all air ; and after 
keeping his canvas open half an hour in the little roads, it was 
all suddenly drawn to the yards, and the lugger anchored. 





WING-AND-WING. 


27 


CHAPTER II. 

“ His stock, a few French phrases, got by heart, 

With much to learn, but nothing to impart ; 

The youth obedient to his sire’s commands, 

Sets off a wanderer into foreign lands.” 

Cowper. 

It was now nearly dark, and the crowd, having satisfied its 
idle curiosity, began slowly to disperse. The Signor Viti 
remained till the last, conceiving it to be his duty to be on the 
alert, in such troubled times ; but with all his bustling activity, 
it escaped his vigilance and means of observation to detect 
the circumstance that the stranger, while he steered into the 
bay with so much confidence, had contrived to bring up at a 
point where not a single gun from the batteries could be brought 
to bear on him ; while his own shot, had he been disposed to 
hostilities, would have completely raked the little haven. But 
Vito Viti, though so enthusiastic an admirer of the art, was 
no gunner himself, and little liked to dwell on the effect of shot, 
except as it applied to others, and not at all to himself. 

Of all the suspicious, apprehensive, and curious, who had 
been collected in and about the port, since it was known the 
lugger intended to come into the bay, Ghita and ’Maso alone 
remained on watch, after the vessel was anchored. A loud hail 
had been given by those intrusted with the execution of the 
quarantine laws, the great physical bugbear and moral mysti- 
fication of the Mediterranean ; and the questions put had been 
answered in a way to satisfy all scruples for the moment. The 
“ From whence came ye ?” asked, however, in an Italian idiom, 
had been answered by “ Inghilterra, touching at Lisbon and 
Gibraltar,” all regions beyond distrust, as to the plague, and all 
happening, at that moment, to give clean bills of health. But 


28 


WING-AND-WINO. 


the name of the craft, herself, had been given in a way to puzzle 
all the proficients in Saxon English that Porto Ferrajo could 
produce. It had been distinctly enough pronounced by some 
one on board, and at the request of the quarantine department, 
had been three times slowly repeated, very much after the 
following form ; viz. — 

“ Come chiamate il vostro bastimento ? n 

“The Wing-And-Wing.” 

“ Come!” 

“ The Wing-And-Wing.” 

A long pause, during which the officials put their heads 
together, first to compare the sounds of each with those of 
his companions’ ears, and then to inquire of one v T ho professed 
*to understand English, but whose knowledge w r as such as is 
generally met with in a linguist of a little-frequented port, the 
meaning of the term. 

“ Ying-y-ving !” growled this functionary, not a little puzzled, 
“ what ze devil sort of name is zat ! Ask zem again.” 

O 

“ Come si chiamct la vostra barca , Signori Inglesi 
repeated he who hailed. 

“ Diable /” growled one back, in French, “she is called ze 
Wing-And-Wing, — 4 Ala e Ala,’ ” giving a very literal trans- 
lation of the name, in Italian. 

“ Ala e ala /” repeated they of the quarantine, first looking at 
each other in surprise, and then laughing, though in a perplexed 
and doubtful manner ; “ Ying-y-Ving !” 

This passed just as the lugger anchored and the crowd had 
begun to disperse. It caused some merriment, and it was soon 
spread in the little town that a craft had just arrived from 
Inghilterra, whose name, in the dialect of that island, was 
“ Ving-y-Ving ;” which meant 44 Ala e ala ” in Italian ; a 
cognomen that struck the listeners as sufficiently absurd. In 
confirmation of the fact, however, the lugger hoisted a small 
square flag, at the end of her main-yard, on which were painted, 
or wrought, two large wings, as they are sometimes delineated 
in heraldry, with the beak of a galley between them ; giving 


WING-AND-WING. 


29 


the whole conceit something very like the appearance that the 
human imagination has assigned to those heavenly beings, 
cherubs. This emblem seemed to satisfy the minds of the 
observers, who were too much accustomed to the images of art, 
not to obtain some tolerably distinct notions, in the end, of 
what “ Ala e ala ” meant. 

But ’Maso, as has been said, remained after the rest had 
departed to their homes and their suppers, as did Ghita. The 
pilot, for such was Tonti’s usual appellation, in consequence of 
his familiarity with the coast, and his being principally 
employed to direct the navigation of the different craft in which 
he served, kept his station on board a felucca to which he 
belonged, watching the movements of the lugger ; while the girl 
had taken her stand on the quay, in a position that better 
became her sex, since it removed her from immediate contact 
with the rough spirits of the port, while it enabled her to see 
what occurred about the Wing- And- Wing. More than half an 
hour elapsed, however, before there were any signs of an inten- 
tion to land ; but, by the time it was dark, a boat was ready, 
and it was seen making its way to the common stairs, where 
one or two of the regular officials were ready to receive it. 

It is unnecessary to dwell on the forms of the pratique 
officers. These .troublesome persons had their lanterns, and 
were vigilant in examining papers, as is customary ; but it 
would seem the mariner in the boat had everything en rfyle, 
for he was soon suffered to land. At this instant, Ghita passed 
near the group, and took a close and keen survey of the 
stranger’s form and face, her own person being so enveloped in 
a mantle as to render a recognition of it difficult, if not 
impossible. The girl seemed satisfied with this scrutiny, for she 
immediately disappeared. Not so with ’Maso, who by this 
time had hurried round from the felucca, and was at the stairs 
in season to say a word to the stranger. 

“ Signore,” said the pilot, “ his Eccellenza, the podesta, has 
bidden me say to you, that he expects the honor of your 
company at his house, which stands so near us, hard by here, 


30 


WING-AND-WING. 


in the principal street, as will make it only a pleasure to go 
there ; I know he would be disappointed, if he failed of the 
happiness of seeing you.” 

“ His Excellenza is a man not to be disappointed,” returned 
the stranger, in very good Italian, “ and five minutes shall prove 
to him how eager I am to salute him then turning to the 
crew of his boat, he ordered them to return on board the lugger, 
and not to fail to look out for the signal by which he might 
call them ashore. 

’Maso, as he led the way to the dwelling of Vito Viti, would 
fain ask a few questions, in the hope of appeasing certain doubts 
that beset him. 

“ Since when, Signor Capitano,” he inquired, “ have you 
English taken to sailing luggers ? It is a novel rig for one of 
your craft.” 

“ Corpo di Bacco !” answered the other, laughing, “ friend of 
mine, if you can tell the precise day when brandy and laces 
were first smuggled from France into my country, I will answer 
your question. I think you have never navigated as far north 
as the Bay of Biscay and our English Channel, or you would 
know that a Guernsey-man is better acquainted with the rig of 
a lugger than with that of a ship.” 

“ G uernsey is a country I never heard of,” answered ’Maso, 
simply ; “ is it like Holland — or more like Lisbon ?” 

“ Very little of either. Guernsey is a country that was once 
French, and where many of the people still speak the French 
language, but of which the English have been masters this many 
an age. It is an island subject to King George, but which is 
still half Gallic in names and usages. This is the reason why 
we like the lugger better than the cutter, which is a more 
English rig.” 

’Maso was silent, for, if true, the answer at once removed 
many misgivings. He had seen so much about the strange 
craft which struck him as French, that doubts of her character 
obtruded ; but, if her captain’s account could only be substan- 
tiated, there was an end of distrust. What could be more 


WING-AND-WING. 


31 


natural than the circumstance that a vessel fitted out in an 
island of French origin, should betray some of the peculiarities 
of the people who built her ? 

The podesta was at home, in expectation of this visit, and 
’Maso was first admitted to a private conference, leaving the 
stranger in an outer room. During this brief conference, the 
pilot communicated all he had to say — both his suspicions and 
the seeming solution of the difficulties; and then he took his 
leave, after receiving the boon of a paul. Vito Viti now joined 
his guest, but it was so dark, lights not having yet been 
introduced, that neither could distinguish the other’s coun- 
tenance. 

“Signor Capitano,” observed the magistrate, “the deputy- 
governor is at his residence, on the hill, and he will expect 
me to do him the favor to bring you thither, that he may do 
you the honors of the port.” 

This was said so civilly, and was, in itself, both so reasonable 
and so much in conformity with usage, that the other had not a 
word to say against it. Together, then, they left the house, and 
proceeded towards the government-dwelling — a building which 
has since become celebrated as having been the residence of a 
soldier who came so near subjugating Europe. Vito Viti was 
a short, pursy man, and he took his time to ascend the stairs- 
resembling street ; but his companion stepped from terrace to 
terrace with an ease and activity that, of themselves, would have 
declared him to be young, had not this been made apparent by 
his general bearing and his mien, as seen through the obscurity. 

Andrea Barrofaldi, the vice-governatore, was a very different 
sort of person from his friend the podesta. Although little 
more acquainted with the world, by practice, the vice-gover- 
natore was deeply read in books ; owing his situation, in short, 
to the circumstance of his having written several clever works, 
of no great reputation, certainly, for genius, but which were 
useful in their way, and manifested scholarship. It is very 
seldom that a man of mere letters is qualified for public life ; 
and yet there is an affectation, in all governments, most 


32 


WING-AND-WING. 


especially in those which care little for literature in general, 
of considering some professions of respect for it necessary to their 
own characters. Andrea Barrofaldi, had been inducted 
into his present office without even the sentimental profession of 
never having asked for it. The situation had been given to 
him by the Fossombrone of his day, without a word having 
been said in the journals of Tuscany of his doubts about ac- 
cepting it, and everything passed, as things are apt to pass when 
there are true simplicity and good faith at the bottom, without 
pretension or comment. He had now T been ten years in office, 
and had got to be exceedingly expert in discharging all the 
ordinary functions of his post, which he certainly did with zeal 
and fidelity. Still, he did not desert his beloved books, and, 
quite apropos of the matter about to come before him, the 
Signor Barrofaldi had just finished a severe, profound, and ex- 
tensive course of study in geography. 

The stranger was left in the ante-chamber, while Vito Viti 
entered an inner room, and had a short communication with 
his friend, the vice-governatore. As soon as this was ended, the 
former returned, and ushered his companion into the presence 
of the substitute for the grand duke. As this was the sailor’s 
first appearance within the influence of a light sufficiently strong 
to enable the podesta to examine his person, both he and Andrea 
Barrofaldi turned their eyes on him with lively curiosity, the 
instant the rays of a strong lamp enabled them to scrutinize his 
appearance. Neither was disappointed, in one sense, at least ; 
the countenance, figure, and mien of the mariner much more 
than equalling his expectations. 

The stranger was a man of six-and-twenty, who stood five 
feet ten in his stockings, and whose frame was the very figure 
of activity, united to a muscle that gave very fair indications of 
strength. He was attired in an undress naval uniform, which 
he wore with a smart air, that one who understood these matters, 
more by means of experience, and less by means of books, than 
Andrea Barrofaldi, would at once have detected did not belong 
to the manly simplicity of the English wardrobe. Nor were his 


WING-AND-WING. 


33 


features in tlie slightest degree those of one of the islanders, 
the outline being beautifully classical, more especially about the 
mouth and chin, while the cheeks were colorless, and the skin 
swarthy. His eye, too, was black as jet, and his cheek was half 
covered in whiskers of a hue dark as the raven’s wing. His 
face, as a whole, was singularly beautiful — for handsome is a 
word not strong enough to express all the character that was 
conveyed by a conformation that might be supposed to have 
been copied from some antique medal, more especially when 
illuminated by a smile that, at times, rendered the whole 
countenance almost as bewitching as that of a lovely woman. 
There was nothing effeminate in the appearance of the young 
stranger, notwithstanding ; his manly, though sweet voice, well 
knit frame, and firm look, affording every pledge of resolution 
and spirit. 

Both the vice-go vernatore and the podesta were struck with 
the unusual personal advantages and smart air of the stranger, 
and each stood looking at him half a minute in silence, after the 
usual salutations had passed, and before the party were seated. 
Then, as the three took chairs, on a motion from Signor Barro- 
faldi, the latter opened the discourse. 

“ They tell me that we have the honor to receive into our 
little haven a vessel of Inghilterra, Signor Capitano,” observed 
the vice-governatore, earnestly regarding the other through his 
spectacles as he spoke, and that, too, in a manner not altogether 
free from distrust. 

“ Signor Yice-go vernatore, such is the flag under which I have 
the honor to serve,” returned the mariner. 

“ You are an Inglese, yourself, I trust, Signor Capitano — 
what name shall I enter in my book, here ?” 

“Jaques Smeet,” answered the other, betraying what might 
have proved two very fatal Shibboleths, in the ears of those 
who were practised in the finesse of our very unmusical language, 
by attempting to say “ Jack Smith.” 

“ Jaques Smeet,” repeated the vice-governatore — “that is, 
Giacomo, in our Italian—” 

2 * 


34 


WING-AND-WING. 


44 No — no — Signore,” hastily interrupted Captain Smeet, 
44 not Jaqueomo, but Jaques — Giovanni turned into Jaques by 
the aid of a little salt water.” 

44 Ah ! — I begin to understand you, Signore ; you English have 
this usage in your language, though you have softened the word 
a little, in mercy to our ears. But we Italians are not afraid of 
such sounds ; and I know’ the name . — 4 Giac Smeet’ — II Capi- 
tano Giac Smeet — I have long suspected my English master of 
ignorance, for he w 7 as merely one of our Leghorn pilots, who 
has sailed in a bastimento de guerra of your country — he called 
your honorable name 4 Smees,’ Signore.” 

44 He w r as very wrong, Signor Vice-governatore,” answered the 
other, clearing his throat by a slight effort ; 44 w r e ahvays call our 
family 4 Smeet.’ ” 

44 And the name of your lugger, Signor Capitano Smeet ?” 
suspending his pen over the paper* in expectation of the answer. 

44 Ze Ving-And-Ving ;” pronouncing the ufs in a very different 
way from what they had been sounded in answering the hails. 

44 Ze Ving-y-Ving,” repeated Signor Barrofaldi, writing the 
name in a manner to show 7 it w r as not the first time he had 
heard it ; 44 ze Ving-y-Ving ; that is a poetical appellation, 
Signor Capitano ; may I presume to ask what it signifies ?” 

44 Ala e ala , in your Italian, Mister Vice-governatore. 
When a craft like mine has a sail spread on each side, resembling 
a bird, w 7 e say, in English, that she marches 4 Ving-and-Ving.’ ” 
Andrea Barrofaldi mused, in silence, near a minute. During 
this interval, he w 7 as thinking of the improbability of any but 
a bond fide Englishman’s dreaming of giving a vessel an appel- 
lation so thoroughly idiomatic, and w 7 as fast mystifying himself, 
as so often happens by tyros in any particular branch of 
knowledge, by his ow r n critical acumen. Then he half whispered 
a conjecture on the subject to Vito Viti, influenced quite as 
much by a desire to show his neighbor his own readiness in such 
matters, as by any other feeling. The podesta w as less struck 
by the distinction than his superior ; but, as became one of his 
limited means, he did not venture an objection. 


WING-AND-WING. 


35 


“ Signor Capitano,” resumed Andrea Barrofaldi, “ since when 
have you English adopted the rig of the lugger ? It is an 
unusual craft for so great a naval nation, they tell me.” 

“Bah! I see how it is, Signor Vice-go vernatore — you suspect 
me of being a Frenchman, or a Spaniard, or something else than 
I claim to be. On this head, however, you may set your heart 
at rest, and put full faith in what I tell you. My name is 
Capitaine Jaques Smeet ; my vessel is ze Ving-and-Ving ; and 
my service that of the king of England.” 

“ Is your craft, then, a king’s vessel ; or does she sail with 
the commission of a corsair ?” 

“ Do I look like a corsair, Signor ?” demanded le Capitaine 
Smeet, with an offended air ; “ I have reason to feel myself 
injured by so unworthy an imputation !” 

“Your pardon, Signor Capitano Smees — but our duty is a 
very delicate one, on this unprotected island, in times as troubled 
as these in which we live. It has been stated to me, as coming 
from the most experienced pilot of our haven, that your lugger 
has not altogether the appearance of a vessel of the Inglese, while 
she has many that belong to the corsairs of France ; and a 
prudent caution imposes on me the office of making certain of 
your nation. Once assured of that, it will be the delight of the 
Elbans to prove how much we honor and esteem our illustrious 
allies.” 

“ This is so reasonable, and so much according to what I do 
myself, when I meet a stranger at sea,” cried the captain, 
stretching forth both arms in a frank and inviting manner, 
“ that none but a knave would object to it. Pursue your own 
course, Signor Vice-go vernatore, and satisfy all your scruples, 
in your own manner. How shall this be done — will you go on 
board ze Ving-and-Ving, and look for yourself — send this 
honorable magistrate, or shall I show you my commission ? Here 
is the last, altogether at your service, and that of his Imperial 

ITio’hness, the Grand Duke.” 

/ - 

“ I flatter myself with having sufficient knowledge of Inghil- 
terra, Signor Capitano, though it be by means of books, to 


36 


W I N G ' A N D * W I N G , 


discover an imposter, could I believe you capable of appearing 
in so unworthy a character ; and that, too, in a very brief con- 
versation. We book-worms,” added Andrea Barrofaldi, with a 
glance of triumph at his neighbor, for he now expected to give 
the podesta an illustration of the practical benefits of general 
learning, a subject that had often been discussed between them, 
“ we book-worms can manage these trifles in our own way ; and 
if you will consent to enter into a short dialogue on the subject 
of England, her habits, language, and laws, this question will 
be speedily put at rest.” 

“You have me at command ; and nothing would delight me 
more than to chat for a few minutes about that little island. It 
is not large, Signore, and is doubtless of little worth ; but, as 
my country, it is much in my eyes ” 

“ This is natural. And now, Signor Capitano,” added 
Andrea, glancing at the podesta, to make sure he that was listen- 
ing, “ will you have the goodness to explain to me what sort of 
a government this Inghilterra possesses — whether monarchy, 
aristocracy, or democracy ?” 

“ Peste ! — that is not so easily answered. There is a king, 
and yet there are powerful lords ; and a democracy, too, that 
sometimes gives trouble enough. Your question might puzzle 
a philosopher, Signor Vice-go vernatore.” 

“This may be true enough, neighbor Vito Viti, for the 
constitution of Inghilterra is an instrument of many strings ! 
Your answer convinces me you have thought on the subject 
of your government, Capitano, and I honor a reflecting 
man in all situations in life. What is the religion of the 
country ?” 

“ Corpo di Bacco ! that is harder to answer than all the rest ! 
We have as many religions in England as we have people. It 
is true the law says one thing on this head, but then the men, 
women, and children say another. Nothing has troubled me 
more than this same matter of religion.” 

“ Ah ! you sailors do not disquiet your souls with such 
thoughts, if the truth must be said. Well, we will be indulgent 


WING-AND-WING, 


37 


on this subject — though, out of doubt, you and all your people 
are Luterani ?” 

“ Set us down as what you please,” answered the captain, with 
an ironical smile. “ Our fathers, at any rate, were all good 
Catholics once. But seamanship and the altar are the best of 
friends^ living quite independent of each other.” 

“ That I will answer for. It is much the same here, caro 
Vito Viti, though our mariners do burn so many lamps and 
offer up so many aves.” 

“ Your pardon, Signor Vice-go vernatore,” interrupted the 
Signor Smeet, with a little earnestness ; “ this is the great mis- 
take of your seamen in general. Did they pray less, and look 
to their duties more, their voyages would be shorter, and the 
profits more certain.” 

“ Scandalous !” exclaimed the podesta, in hotter zeal than it 
was usual for him to betray. 

“Nay, worthy Vito Viti, it is even so,” interrupted the 
deputy, with a wave of the hand that was as authoritative as 
the concession was liberal, and indicative of a spirit enlightened 
by study ; “ the fact must be conceded. There is the fable of 
Hercules and the wagoner to confirm it. Did our men first 
strive, and then pray, more would be done than by first praying 
and then striving ; and now, Signor Capitano, a word on your 
language, of which I have some small knowledge, and which, 
doubtless, you speak like a native.” 

“ Sairtain /ec,” answered the captain, with perfect self-com- 
posure, changing the form of speech from the Italian to the Eng- 
lish with a readiness that proved how strong he felt himself on 
this point ; “ one cannot fail to speak ze tongue of his own 
muzzair.” 

This was said without any confusion of manner, and with an 
accent that might very well mislead a foreigner, and it sounded 
imposing to the vice-go vernatore, who felt a secret consciousness 
that he could not have uttered such a sentence to save his own 
life, without venturing out of his depth : therefore, he pursued 
the discourse in Italian. 


38 


WING-AND-WING. 


“ Your language, Signore,” observed Andrea Barrofaldi, 'with 
warmth, “ is no doubt a veiy noble one, for the language in 
which Shakspeare and Milton wrote cannot be else ; but, you 
will permit me to say that it has a uniformity of sound, with 
words of different letters, that I find as unreasonable as it is 
embarrassing to a foreigner.” 

“ I have heard such complaints before,” answered the captain, 
not at all sorry to find the examination which had proved so 
awkward to himself, likely to be transferred to a language about 
which he cared not at all, “ and have little to say in its defence. 
But as an example of what you mean — ” 

“ Why, Signore, here are several words that I have written 
on this bit of paper, which sound nearly alike, though, as you 
perceive, they are quite differently spelled. Bix, bax, box, bux, 
and bocks,” continued Andrea, endeavoring to pronounce, 
“ big,” “ bag,” “ bug,” “ bog,” and “ box,” all of which, it 
seemed to him, had a very close family resemblance in sound, 
though certainly spelled with different letters ; “ these are words, 
Signore, that are enough to drive a foreigner to abandon your 
tongue in despair.” 

“ Indeed they are ; and I often told the person who taught 
me the language — ” 

“ How ! did you not learn your own tongue as we all get our 
native forms of speech, by ear, when a child ?” demanded the 
vice-governatore, his suspicions suddenly revived. 

“ Without question, Signore, but I speak of books, and of 
learning to read. When ‘ big,’ ‘ bag,’ ‘ bug,’ ‘ bog,’ and ‘ box,’ ” 
reading from the paper in a steady voice, and a very tolerable 
pronunciation, “ first came before me, I felt all the embarrass- 
ment of which you speak.” 

“ And did you only pronounce these words when first taught 
to read them ?” 

This question was awkward to answer ; but Vito Yiti began 
to weary of a discourse in which he could take no part, and 
most opportunely he interposed an objection of his own. 

“Signor Barrofaldi,” he said, “stick to the lugger. All our 


WIN Gr*AND*WIN 6, 


39 


motives of suspicion came from Tommaso Tonti, and all of his 
from the rig of Signor Smees’ vessel. If the lugger can be 
explained, what do we care about bixy, buxy, boxy !” 

The vice-go vernatore was not sorry to get creditably out of the 
difficulties of the language, and, smiling on his friend, he made a 
gentle bow of compliance. Then he reflected a moment, in order 
to plan another mode of proceeding, and pursued the inquiry. 

“ My neighbor Vito Viti is right,” he said, u and we will stick 
to the lugger. Tommaso Tonti is a mariner of experience, and 
the oldest pilot of Elba. He tells us that the lugger is a craft 
much in use among the French, and not at all among the Eng- 
lish, so far as he has ever witnessed.” 

“ In that Tommaso Tonti is no seaman. Many luggers are 
to be found among the English ; though more, certainly, among 
the French. But I have already given the Signor Viti to 
understand that there is such an island as Guernsey, which was 
once French, but which is now English, and that accounts for 
the appearances he has observed. We are Guernsey-men — the 
lugger is from Guernsey — and, no doubt, we have a Guernsey 
look. This is being half French, I allow.” 

“ That alters the matter altogether. Neighbor Viti, this is 
all true about the island, and about its habits and its origin ; 
and if one could be as certain about the names, why nothing 
more need be said. Are Giac Smees, and Ving-y-Ving, 
Guernsey names ?” 

“ They are not particularly so,” returned the sailor, with 
difficulty refraining from laughing in the vice-governatore’s face ; 
“ Jaques Smeet’ being so English, that w T e are the largest family, 
perhaps, in all Inghilterra. Half the nobles of the island are 
called Smeet’, and not a few are named Jaques. But little 
Guernsey was conquered ; and our ancestors who performed that 
office, brought their names with them, Signore. As for Ving- 
And-Ving, it is capital English.” 

“I do not see, Vito, but this is reasonable. If the capitano, 
now, only had his commission with him, you and I might go 
to bed in peace, and sleep till morning.” 


40 


WING-AND-WING. 


“ Here, then, Signore, are your sleeping potions,” continued 
the laughing sailor, drawing from his pocket several papers. 
“ These are my orders from the admiral ; and, as they are not 
secret, you can cast your eyes over them. This is my commis- 
sion, Signor V ice-go vernatore — this is the signature of the 
English minister of marine — and here is my own, ‘Jaques 
Smeet’,’ as you see, and here is the order to me, as a lieutenant, 
to take command of the Ving-And-Ving.” 

All the orders and names were there, certainly, written in a 
clear, fair hand, and in perfectly good English. The only thing 
that one who understood the language would have been apt to 
advert to, was the circumstance that the words which the sailor 
pronounced u Jaques Smeet’,” w T ere written, plainly enough, 
“Jack Smith” — an innovation on the common practice, which, 
to own the truth, had proceeded from his own obstinacy, and 
had been done in the very teeth of the objections of the scribe 
who forged the papers. But Andrea was still too little of an 
English scholar to understand the blunder, and the Jack passed, 
with him, quite as currently as would “John,” “Edward,” or 
any other appellation. As to the Wing-And-Wing, all was 
right ; though, as the words were pointed out and pronounced 
by both parties, one pertinaciously insisted on calling them 
“ Ving-And-Ving,” and the other, “ Ving-y-Ving.” All this 
evidence had a great tendency towards smoothing down every 
difficulty, and ’Maso Tonti’s objections were pretty nearly 
forgotten by both the Italians, when the papers were returned 
to their proper owner. 

“ It was an improbable thing that an enemy, or a corsair, 
would venture into this haven of ours, Vito Viti,” said the vice- 
governatore, in a self-approving manner ; “ we have a reputation 
for being vigilant, and for knowing our business, as well as the 
authorities of Livorno, or Genova, or Napoli ” 

“ And that too, Signore, with nothing in the world to gain 
but hard knocks and a prison,” added the Captain Smeet’, with 
one of his most winning smiles — a smile that even softened the 
heart of the podesta, while it so far warmed that of his superior. 


WING-AND-WING. 


41 


as to induce him to invite the stranger to share his own frugal 
supper. The invitation was accepted as frankly as it had been 
given, and, the table being ready in an adjoining room, in a few 
minutes II Capitano Smees and Vito Viti were sharing the vice- 
governatore’s evening meal. 

From this moment, if distrust existed any longer in the breasts 
of the two functionaries of Porto Ferrajo, it was so effectually 
smothered as to be known only to themselves. The light fare 
of an Italian kitchen, and the light wines of Tuscany, just served 
to strengthen the system and enliven the spirits ; the conver- 
sation becoming general and lively, as the business of the 
moment proceeded. At that day, tea was known throughout 
southern Europe as an ingredient only for the apothecary’s 
keeping ; nor was it often to be found among his stores ; and 
the convives used, as a substitute, large draughts of the pleasant 
mountain liquors of the adjacent main, which produced an 
excitement scarcely greater, while it may be questioned if it did 
as much injury to the health. The stranger, however, both eat 
and drank sparingly, for, while he affected to join cordially in 
the discourse and the business of restoration , he greatly desired 
to be at liberty to pursue his own designs. 

Andrea Barrofaldi did not let so excellent an opportunity to 
show his acquirements to the podesta go by neglected. He 
talked much of England, its history, its religion, government, 
laws, climate, and industry; making frequent appeals to the 
Capitano Smees for the truth of his opinions. In most cases 
the parties agreed surprisingly, for the stranger started with a 
deliberate intention to assent to everything ; but even this com- 
pliant temper had its embarrassments, since the vice-go verna- 
tore so put his interrogatories as occasionally to^ give to 
acquiescence the appearance of dissent. The other floundered 
through his difficulties tolerably well, notwithstanding ; and so 
successful was he, in particular, in flattering Andrea’s self-love 
by expressions of astonishment that a foreigner should under- 
stand his own country so well — better, indeed, in many respects, 
than he understood it himself — and that he should be so fami- 


42 


W I N G - A N D ■ W ING. 


liar with its habits, institutions, and geography, that, by the time 
the flask was emptied, the superior functionary whispered to his 
inferior, that the stranger manifested so much information and 
good sense, he should not be surprised if he turned out, in the 
long run, to be some secret agent of the British government, 
employed to make philosophical inquiries as to the trade and 
navigation of Italy, with a view to improve the business rela- 
tions between the two countries. 

“ You are an admirer of nobility, and a devotee of aristo- 
cracy,” added Andrea Barrofaldi, in pursuit of the subject then 
in hand ; “ if the truth were known, a scion of some noble 
house yourself, Signore ?” 

“ I ? — Peste ! — I hate an aristocrat, Signor Vice-governatore, 
as I do the devil !” 

This was said just after the freest draught the stranger had 
taken, and with an unguarded warmth that he himself imme- 
diately regretted. 

“ This is extraordinary, in an Inglese ! Ah — I see how it is 
— you are in the opposizione , and find it necessary to say this. 
It is most extraordinary, good Vito Viti, that these Inglese are 
divided into two political castes , that contradict each other in 
everything. If one maintains that an object is white, the other 
side swears it is black ; and so vice versa. Both parties pro- 
fess to love their country better than anything else ; but the 
one that is out of power abuses even power itself, until it falls 
into its own hands.” 

“ This is so much like Giorgio Grondi’s course towards me, 
Signore, that I could almost swear he w T as one of these very 
opposizione ! I never approve of a thing that he does not con- 
demn, or condemn, that he does not approve. Do you confess 
this much, Signor Capitano ?” 

“ II vice-governatore know r s us better than we know ourselves, 

I fear. There is too much truth in his account of our politics ; 
but, Signori,” rising from his chair, “ I now crave your permis- 
sion to look at your town, and to return to my vessel. The 
darkness has come, and discipline must be observed.” 


WIN6-AND-WING. 


43 


As Andrea Barrofaldi had pretty well exhausted his stores 
of knowledge, no opposition was made ; and returning his 
thanks, the stranger took his departure, leaving the two func- 
tionaries to discuss his appearance and character over the 
remainder of the flask. 


44 


WING-AND-WING. 


CHAPTER III. 

“ There’s Jonathan, that lucky lad, 

Who knows it from the root, sir ; — 

He sucks in all that’s to be had, 

And always trades for boot, sir.” 

14,763d verse of Yankee Doodle. 

Il Capitano Smeet’ was not sorry to get out of the govern- 
ment house — palazzo, as some of the simple people of Elba 
called the unambitious dwelling. He had been well badgered 
by the persevering erudition of the vice-governatore ; and, 
stored as he was with nautical anecdotes, and a tolerable perso- 
nal acquaintance with sundry sea-ports, for any expected occa- 
sion of this sort, he had never anticipated a conversation which 
would aspire as high as the institutions, religion, and laws of his 
adopted country. Had the worthy Andrea heard the number- 
less maledictions that the stranger muttered between his teeth, 
as he left the house, it would have shocked all his sensibilities, 
if it did not revive his suspicions. 

It was now night ; but a starry, calm, voluptuous evening, such 
as are familiar to those who are acquainted with the Mediterra- 
nean and its shores. There was scarcely a breath of wind, though 
the cool air, that appeared to be a gentle respiration of the sea, 
induced a few idlers still to linger on the heights, where there 
was a considerable extent of land, that might serve for a pro- 
menade. Along this walk the mariner proceeded, undetermined, 
for the moment, what to do next. He had scarcely got into 
the open space, however, before a female, with her form closely 
enveloped in a mantle, brushed near him, anxiously gazing into 
his face. Her motions were too quick and sudden for him to 
obtain a look in return ; but, perceiving that she held her way 


WING-AND-WING, 


45 


along the heights, beyond the spot most frequented by the 
idlers, he followed until she stopped. 

“ Ghita !” said the young man, in a tone of delight, when he 
had got near enough to the female to recognise a face and form 
she no longer attempted to conceal ; “ this is being fortunate, 
indeed, and saves a vast deal of trouble. A thousand, thousand 
thanks, dearest Ghita, for this one act of kindness. I might 
have brought trouble on you, as well as on myself, in striving 
to find your residence.” 

“ It is for that reason, Raoul, that I have ventured so much 
more than is becoming in my sex, to meet you. A thousand 
eyes, in this gossiping little town, are on your lugger, at this 
moment, and be certain they will also be on its captain, as soon 
as it is known he has landed. I fear you do not know for what 
you and your people are suspected, at this very instant !” 

“ For nothing discreditable, I hope, dear Ghita, if it be only 
not to dishonor your friends !” 

“ Many think, and say, you are Frenchmen, and that the 
English flag is only a disguise.” 

“ If that be all, we must bear the infamy,” answered Raoul 
Yvard, laughing. u Why this is just what we are to a man, a 
single American excepted, who is an excellent fellow to make 
out British commissions, and help us to a little English when 
harder pushed than common ; and why should we be offended, 
if the good inhabitants of Porto Ferrajo take us for what we 
are ?” 

“ Not offended, Raoul, but endangered. If the vice-go verna- 
tore gets this notion, he will order the batteries to fire upon 
you, and will destroy you as an enemy.” 

“ Not he, Ghita. He is too fond of le Capitaine Smeet’, to 
do so cruel a thing ; and then he must shift all his guns, before 
they will hurt le Feu-Follet where she lies. I never leave my 
little Jack-o’Lantern* within reach of an enemy’s hand. Look 
here, Ghita ; you can see her through this opening in the 


* The English of Feu-Follet . 


46 


WING-AND-WING. 


houses — that dark spot on the bay, there — and you will perceive 
no gun from any battery in Porto Ferrajo can as much as 
frighten, much less harm her.” 

“ I know her position, Raoul, and understood why you 
anchored in that spot. I knew, or thought I knew you, from 
the first moment you came in plain sight ; and so long as you 
remained outside, I was not sorry to look on so old a friend — 
nay, I will go further, and say I rejoiced, for it seemed to me 
you passed so near the island, just to let some whom you knew 
to be on it, understand you had not forgotten them ; but when 
you came into the bay, I thought you mad !” 

“ Mad I should have been, dearest Ghita, had I lived longer 
without seeing you. What are these mistrables of Elbans, that 
I should fear them ! They have no cruiser — only a few feluc- 
cas — all of which are not worth the trouble of burning. Let 
them but point a finger at us, and we will tow their Austrian 
polacre out into the bay, and burn her before their eyes. Le 
Feu-Follet deserves her name ; she is here, there, and every- 
where, before her enemies suspect her.” 

“ But her enemies suspect her now, and you cannot be too 
cautious. My heart w 7 as in my throat a dozen times, w 7 hile the 
batteries were firing at you this evening.” 

“ And what harm did they ? they cost the Grand Duke two 
cartridges, and two shot, without even changing the lugger’s 
course ! You have seen too much of these things, Ghita, to be 
alarmed by smoke and noise." 

“ I have seen enough of these things, Raoul, to know that a 
heavy shot, fired from these heights, would have gone through 
your little Feu-FoUet, and, coming out under water, would have 
sunk you to the bottom of the Mediterranean.” 

“ We should have had our boats, then,” answered Raoul 
Yvard, with an indifference that was not affected, for reckless 
daring w r as his vice, rather than his virtue ; “ besides, a shot 
must first hit, before it can harm, as the fish must be taken, 
before it can be cooked. But enough of this, Ghita ; I get quite 
enough of shot, and ships, and sinkings, in every-day life, and, 


"WIN Gr-AND-WIN G. 


47 


now I have at last found this blessed moment, we will not throw 
away the opportunity by talking of such matters — ” 

“ Nay, Raoul, I can think of nothing else, and therefore can 
talk of nothing else. Suppose the vice-governatore should 
suddenly take it into his head to send a party of soldiers to le 
Feu-Follet, with orders to seize her — what would then be your 
situation ?” 

“ Let him ; and I would send a boat’s crew to his palazzo, 
here,” the conversation was in French, which Ghita spoke 
fluently, though with an Italian accent, “ and take him on a 
cruise after the English and his beloved Austrians ! Ball ! — 
the idea will not cross his constitutional brain, and there is little 
use in talking about it. In the morning, I will send my prime 
minister, mon Barras, mon Carnot, mon Cambacceres, mon 
Ithuel Bolt, to converse with him on politics and religion.” 

“ Religion,” repeated Ghita, in a saddened tone ; u the less 
you say on that holy subject, Raoul, .the better I shall like it, 
and the better it will be for yourself, in the end. The state of 
your country makes your want of religion matter of regret, 
rather than of accusation, but it is none the less a dreadful evil.” 
“ Well, then,” resumed the sailor, who felt he had touched a 
dangerous ground, “ we will talk of other things. Even sup- 
posing we are taken, what great evil have we to apprehend ? 
We are honest corsairs, duly commissioned, and acting under 
the protection of the French Republic, one and undivided, and 
can but be made prisoners of war. That is a fortune which has 
once befallen me, and no greater calamity followed than my 
having to call myself le Capitaine Smeet’, and finding out the 
means of mystifying le vice-governatore.” 

Ghita laughed, in spite of the fears she entertained, for it was 
one of the most powerful of the agencies the sailor employed in 
making others converts to his opinions, to cause them to sympa- 
thize with bis light-hearted gaiety, whether it suited their natural 
temperaments or not. She knew that Raoul had already been 
a prisoner in England two years, where, as he often said himself, 
he stayed just long enough to acquire a very respectable acquaint- 


48 


WING-AND-WING. 

^ ance with the language, if not with the institutions, manners, 
and religion, when he made his escape aided by the American 
called Ithuel Bolt, an impressed seaman of our own Republic, 
who, fully entering into all the plans imagined by his more 
enterprising friend and fellow-sufferer, had cheerfully enlisted in 
the execution of his future schemes of revenge. States, like 
powerful individuals in private life, usually feel themselves too 
strong to allow any considerations of the direct consequences of 
departures from the right to influence their policy ; and a nation 
is apt to fancy its power of such a character, as to despise all 
worldly amends, while its moral responsibility is divided among 
too many to make it a matter of much concern to its particular 
citizens. Nevertheless, the truth will show that none are so low 
but they may become dangerous to the highest ; and even 
powerful communities seldom fail to meet with their punishment 
for every departure from justice. It would seem, indeed, that a 
principle pervades nature, which renders it impossible for man 
to escape the consequences of his own evil deeds, even in this 
life ; as if God had decreed the universal predominance of truth, 
and the never-failing downfall of falsehood from the beginning ; 
the success of wrong being ever temporary, while the triumph of 
the right is eternal. To apply these consoling considerations to 
the matter more immediately before us *. The practice of impress- 
ment, in its day, raised a feeling among the seamen of other 
nations, as well as, in fact, among those of Great Britain herself, 
that probably has had as much effect in destroying the prestige 
of her nautical invincibility, supported, as was that prestige, by 
a vast existing force, as any other one cause whatever. It was 
necessary to witness the feeling of hatred and resentment that 
was raised by the practice of this despotic power, more especially 
among those who felt that their foreign birth ought at least to 
have insured them impunity from the abuse, in order fully to 
appreciate what might so readily become its consequences. 
Ithuel Bolt, the seaman just mentioned, was a proof, in a small 
way, of the harm that even an insignificant individual can effect, 
when his mind is fully and wholly bent on revenge. Ghita knew 


WING-AND-WING. 


49 


him well ; and, although she little liked either his character or „ 
his appearance, she had often been obliged to smile at the 
narrative of the deceptions he practised on the English, and of 
the thousand low inventions he had devised to do them injury. 
She was not slow, now, to imagine that his agency had not been 
trifling in carrying on the present fraud. 

“ You do not openly call your lugger le Feu-Follet, Raoul,” 
she answered, after a minute’s pause ; “ that would be a danger- 
ous name to utter, even in Porto Ferrajo. It is not a week 
since I heard a mariner dwelling on her misdeeds, and the 
reasons that all good Italians have to detest her. It is fortunate 
the man is away, or he could not fail to know you.” 

“ Of that I am not so certain, Ghita. We alter our paint 
often, and, at need, can alter our rig. You may be certain, 
however, that we hide our Jack-o’Lantern, and sail under 
another name. The lugger, now she is ' in the English service, 
is called the 4 Ving-and-Ving.’ ” 

“ I heard the answer given to the hail from the shore, but it 
sounded different from this.” 

“Non — Ving-And-Ving. Ithuel answered for us, and you 
may be sure he can speak his own tongue. Ving-And-Ving is 
the word, and he pronounces it as I do.” 

“ Ving-y-ving !” repeated Ghita, in her pretty Italian tones, 
dropping naturally into the vice-governatore’s fault of pronuncia- 
tion — “ it is an odd name, and I like it less than Feu-Follet.” 

“ I wish, dearest Ghita, I could persuade you to like the name 
of Yvard,” rejoined the young man, in a half-reproachful, half- 
tender manner, “ and I should care nothing for any other. 
You accuse me of disrespect for priests ; but no son could ever 
kneel to a father for his blessing, half so readily, or half so 
devoutly, as I could kneel with tliee, before any friar in Italy, to 
receive that nuptial benediction which I have so often asked at 
your hand, but which you have so constantly and so cruelly 
refused.” 

“ I am afraid the name would not then be Feu-Follet, but 
Ghita-Folie,” said the girl, laughing, though she felt a bitter 

3 


50 


WING-AND-WING. 


pang at the heart, that cost her an effort to control ; — “ no more 
of this now, Raoul ; we may be observed and watched ; it is 
necessary that we separate.” 

A hurried conversation, of more interest to the young couple 
themselves than it would prove to the reader, though it might 
not have been wholly without the latter, but which it would be 
premature to relate, now followed, when Ghita left Raoul on the 
hill, insisting that she knew the town too well to have any 
apprehensions about threading its narrow and steep streets, 
at any hour, by herself. This much, in sooth, must be said in 
favor of Andrea Barrofaldi’s administration of justice ; he had 
made it safe for the gentle, the feeble, and the poor, equally, to 
move about the island by day or by night ; it seldom happening 
that so great an enemy to peace and tranquillity appeared among 
his simple dependants, as was the fact at this precise moment. 

In the meantime, there was not quite as much tranquillity in 
Porto Ferrajo, as the profound silence which reigned in the 
place might have induced a stranger to imagine. Tommaso 
Tonti was a man of influence, within his sphere, as well as the 
vice-go vernatore ; and having parted from Yito Yiti, as has been 
related, he sought the little clientelle of padroni and piloti, who 
were in the habit of listening to his opinions as if they were 
oracles. The usual place of resort of this set, after dark, was a 
certain house kept by a widow of the name of Benedetta 
Galopo, the uses of which were plainly enough indicated by a 
small bush that hung dangling from a short pole, fastened above 
the door. If Benedetta knew anything of the proverb, that 
“ good wine needs no bush,” she had not sufficient faith in the 
contents of her own casks to trust to their reputation ; for this 
bush of hers was as regularly renewed as its withering leaves 
required. Indeed, it was a common remark among her custom- 
ers, that her bush was always as fresh as her face, and that 
the latter was one of the most comely that was to be met with 
on the island ; a circumstance that aided much indifferent vine 
in finding a market. Benedetta bore a reasonably good name, 
nevertheless, though it was oftener felt, perhaps, than said, that 


WING-AND-WING. 


51 


she was a confirmed coquette. She tolerated ’Maso principally 
on two accounts ; because, if he were old and unattractive in his 
own person, many of his followers were among the smartest 
seamen of the port, and because he not only drank his full 
proportion, but paid with punctuality. These inducements 
rendered the pilot always a welcome guest at La Santa Maria 
degli Venti, as the house was called, though it had no other 
sign than the often-renewed bush, already mentioned. 

At the very moment, then, when Raoul Yvard and Ghita 
parted on the hill, ’Maso was seated in his usual place at 
the table in Benedetta’s upper room, the windows of which 
commanded as full a view of the lugger as the hour permitted ; 
that craft being anchored about a cable’s length distant, and, 
as a sailor might have expressed it, just abeam. On this occa- 
sion he had selected the upper room, and but three companions, 
because it was his wish that as few should enter into his coun- 
sels as at all comported with the love of homage to his own 
experience. The party had been assembled a quarter of an 
hour, and there had been time to cause the tide to ebb mate- 
rially in the flask, which it may be well to tell the reader at 
once, contained very little less than half a gallon of liquor, such 
as it was. 

“ I have told it all to the podesta,” said ’Maso, with an 
important manner, as he put down his glass, after potation 
the second, which quite equalled potation the first in quantity ; 
“ yes, I have told it all to Vito Viti, and no doubt he has told it 
to II Signor Vice-go vernatore, who now knows as much about 
the whole matter as either of us four. Cospetto ! — to think 

such a thing dare happen in a haven like Porto Ferrajo ! Had 
it come to pass over on the other side of the island, at Porto 
Longone, one wouldn’t think so much of it, for they are never 
much on the look-out ; but to take place here, in the very capi- 
tal of Elba, I should as soon have expected it in Livorno !” 

“ But, ’Maso,” put in Daniele Bruno, in the manner of one 
who was a little sceptical, “I have often seen the pavilion 
of the Inglese, and this is as much like that which all their fri- 


52 


WING-AND-WING, 


gates and corvettes wear, as one of our feluccas is like another. 
The flag, at least, is right.” 

“ What signifies a flag, Daniele, when a French hand can 
hoist an English ensign as easily as the king of Inghilterra him- 
self? If that lugger was not built by the Francese, you were 
not built by an Italian father and mother. But, I should 
not think so much of the hull, for that may have been captured, 
as the English take many of their enemies on the high seas ; 
but look at the rigging and sails — Santa Maria ! I could go to 
the shop of * the veiy sail-maker, in Marseilles, who made that 
foresail ! His name is Pierre Benoit, and a very good workman 
he is, as all will allow who have had occasion to employ him.” 

This particularity greatly aided the argument ; common 
minds being seldom above yielding to the circumstances which 
are so often made to corroborate imaginary facts. Tommaso 
Tonti, though so near the truth as to his main point — the cha- 
racter of the visitor — was singularly out as to the sail, notwith- 
standing ; le Feu-Follet having been built, equipped, and manned 
at Nantes, and Pierre Benoit never having 1 seen her or her fore- 
sail either ; but it mattered not, in the way of discussion and 
assertion, one sailmaker being as good as another, provided he 
was French. 

“ And have you mentioned this to the podesta ?” inquired 
Benedetta, who stood with the empty flask in her hand, listen- 
ing to the discourse ; “ I should think that sail would open his 
eyes. 

“ I cannot say I have ; but then I told him so many other 
things more to the point, that he cannot do less than believe 
this, when he hears it. Signor Viti promised to meet me here, 
after he has had a conversation with the vice-governatore ; and 
we may now expect him every minute.” 

“ II Signor Podesta will be welcome,” said Benedetta, wiping 
off a spare table, and bustling round the room to make things 
look a little smarter than they ordinarily did ; “ he may fre- 
quent grander wine-houses than this, but he will hardly find 
better liquor.” 


V 


WING-AND-WING, 


58 


“ Poverina ! — Don’t think that the podesta comes here on any 
such errand ; he comes to meet me,” answered ’Maso, with an 
indulgent smile ; “he takes his wine too often on the heights, 

' to wish to come as low as this after a glass. Friends of mine 
( amigi mil), there is wine up at that house, that, when the oil is 
once out of the neck of the flask,* goes down a man’s throat as 
smoothly as if it were all oil itself ! I could drink a flask of it 
without once stopping to take breath. It is that liquor which 
makes the nobles so light and airy.” 

“ I know the washy stuff,” put in Benedetta, with more 
■warmth than she was used to betray to her customers ; “ well 
may you call it smooth, a good spring running near each of the 
wine-presses that have made it. I have seen some of it that 
even oil would not float on !” 

This assertion was a fair counterpoise to that of the sail, being 
about as true. But Benedetta had too much experience in the 
inconstancy of men, not to be aware that if the three or four cus- 
tomers who were present should seriously take up the notion 
that the island contained any better liquor than that she habit- 
ually placed before them, her value might be sensibly diminish- 
ed in their eyes. As became a woman who had to struggle 
singly with the world, too, her native shrewdness taught her, 
that the best moment to refute a calumny was to stop it as 
soon as it began to circulate, and her answer was as warm in 
manner as it was positive in terms. This was an excellent 
opening for an animated discussion, and one would have been 
very likely to occur, had there not fortunately been steps heard 
without, that induced ’Maso to expect the podesta. Sure 
enough, the door opened, and Vito Viti appeared, followed, to 
the astonishment of all the guests, and to the absolute awe of 
Benedetta, by the vice-go vernatore himself. 

The solution of this unexpected visit is very easily given. 
After the departure of the Capitano Smees, Vito Viti returned 

* It is a practice in Tuscany to put a few drops of oil in the neck of each flask of 
the more delicate wines, to exclude the air. 


54 


WING-AND-WING. 


to the subject of ’Maso’s suspicions, and by suggesting certain 
little circumstances in the mariner’s manner, that he had noted 
during the interview, he so far succeeded in making an impres- 
sion on himself, that, in the end, his own distrust revived, and 
with it that of the deputy-governor. Neither, however, could 
be said to be more than uneasy, and the podesta happening to 
mention his appointment with the pilot, Andrea determined to 
accompany him, in order to reconnoitre the strange craft in per- 
son. Both the functionaries wore their cloaks, by no means an 
unusual thing in the cool night air of the coast, even in mid- 
summer, which served them for all the disguise that circumstan- 
ces required. 

“ II Signor Vice-go vernatore !” almost gasped Benedetta, 
dusting a chair, and then the table, and disposing the former 
near the latter by a sort of mechanical process, as if only one 
errand could ever bring a guest within her doors ; “ your 
eccellenza is most welcome ; and it is an honor I could oftener 
ask. We are humble people down here at the water side, but 
I hope we are just as good Christians as if we lived upon the 
hill.” 

“ Doubt it not, worthy Bettina — ” 

“ My name is Benedetta, at your eccellenza’s command — 
Benedettina, if it please the vice-governatore ; but not Bettina. 
We think much of our names, down here at the water side, 
eccellenza.” 

“ Let it be so, then, good Benedetta, and I make no doubt 
you are excellent Christians. — A flask of your wine, if it be 
convenient.” 

The woman dropped a curtsey that was full of gratitude ; and 
the glance of triumph that she cast at her other guests, may be 
said to have terminated the discussion that was about to com- 
mence, as the dignitaries appeared. It disposed of the ques- 
tion of the wine at once, and for ever silenced cavilling. If the 

7 O 

vice-governatore could drink her liquor, w r hat mariner would 
henceforth dare calumniate it ! 

“Eccellenza, with a thousand welcomes,” Benedetta conti- 


WING-AND-WING. 


55 


nued, as she placed the flask on the table, after having carefully 
removed the cotton and the oil with her own plump hand ; this 
being one of half a dozen flasks of really sound, well-flavored, 
Tuscan liquor, that she kept for especial occasions ; as she well 
might, the cost being only a paul, or ten cents for near half a 
gallon ; “ Eccellenza, a million times welcome. This is an 
honor that don’t befall the Santa Maria degli Venti more than 
once in a century ; and you, too, Signor Podesta, once before, 
only, have you ever had leisure to darken my poor door.” 

“ We bachelors” — the podesta, as well as the vice-governor, 
belonged to the fraternity — “ we bachelors are afraid to trust 
ourselves too often in the company of a sprightly widow like 
yourself, whose beauty has rather improved than lessened by a 
few years.” 

This brought a coquettish answer, during which time Andrea 
Barrofaldi, having first satisfied himself that the wine might be 
swallowed with impunity, was occupied in surveying the party 
of silent and humble mariners, who were seated at the other 
table. His object was to ascertain how far he might have com- 
mitted himself, by appearing in such a place, when his visit 
could not well be attributed to more than one motive. ’Maso 
he knew, as the oldest pilot of the place, and he had also some 
knowledge of Daniele Bruno ; but the three other seamen were 
strangers to him. 

“ Inquire if we are among friends, here, and worthy subjects 
of the Grand Duke, all,” observed Andrea to Vito Viti, in a low 
voice. 

“ Thou hearest, ’Maso,” observed the podesta ; “ canst thou 
answer for all of thy companions ?” 

“ Every one of them, Signore : this is Daniele Bruno, whose 
father was killed in a battle with the Algerines, and whose 
mother was the daughter of a mariner, as well known in Elba 
as — ” 

“ Never mind the particulars, Tommaso Tonti,” interrupted 
the vice-governatore — “ it is sufficient that thou knowest all thy 
companions to be honest men, and faithful servants of the sov- 


/ 


WING-AND-WING. 


56 

I 

rano. You all know, most probably, the errand which has 
brought the Signor Yiti and myself to this house, to-night ?” 
The men looked at each other, as the ill-instructed are apt to 
do, when it becomes necessary to answer a question that con- 
cerns many ; assisting the workings of their minds, as it might 
be, with the aid of the senses ; and then Daniele Bruno took on 
himself the office of spokesman. 

“ Signore, vostro eccellenza, we think we do,” answered the 
man. “ Our fellow, ’Maso here, has given us to understand 
that he suspects the Inglese that is anchored in the bay, to be 
no Inglese at all, but either a pirate or a Frenchman. The 
blessed Maria preserve us L but in these troubled times it does 
not make much difference which.” 

“ I will not say as much as that, friend — for one would be an 
outcast among all people, while the other would have the rights 
which shield the servants of civilized nations,” returned the 
scrupulous and just-minded functionary. “ The time was when 
His Imperial Majesty, the emperor, and his illustrious brother, 
our sovereign, the Grand Duke, did Hot allow that the republi- 
can government of France was a lawful government ; but the 
fortune of war removed his scruples, and a treaty of peace has 
allowed the contrary. Since the late alliance, it is our duty to 
consider all Frenchmen as enemies, though it by no means fol- 
lows that we are to consider them as pirates.” 

“ But their corsairs seize all our craft, Signore, and treat 
their people as if they were no better than dogs ; then, they 
tell me that they are not Christians — no, not even Luterani or 
heretics !” 

“ That religion does not flourish among them, is true,” 
answered Andrea, who loved so well to discourse on such sub- 
jects, that he would have stopped to reason on religion or 
manners, with the beggar to whom he gave a pittance, did he 
only meet with encouragement ; “ but it is not as bad in France, 
on this important head, as it has been ; and we may hope that 
there will be further improvement, in due time.” 

“ But, Signor Vice-governatore,” put in ’Maso, “ these people 


WING-AND-WING, 


51 


have treated the holy father and his states in a way that one 
would not treat an Infidel or a Turk !” 

“ Aye, that is it, Signori,” observed Benedetta — “ a poor 
woman cannot go to mass without having her mind disturbed 
by the thoughts of the wrongs done the head of the church. 
Had these things come from Luterani, it might have been 
borne ; but they say the Francese were once all good Catholics !” 
“ So were the Luterani, bella Benedetta, to their chief schis- 
matic and leader, the German monk himself.” 

This piece of information caused great surprise, even the 
podesta himself turning an inquiring glance at his superior, as 
much as to acknowledge his own wonder that a Protestant 
should ever have been anything but a Protestant — or rather, a 
Lutheran anything but a Lutheran — the word Protestant being 
too significant to be in favor among those who deny there were 
any just grounds for a protest at all. That Luther had ever 
been a Bomanist, was perfectly wonderful, even in the eyes of 
Vito Viti. 

“ Signore, you would hardly mislead these honest people, in 
a matter as grave as this !” exclaimed the podesta. 

“ I do but tell you truth ; and one of these days you shall 
hear the whole story, neighbor Viti. ’Tis worth an hour of 
leisure, to any man, and is very consoling and useful to a 
Christian. But whom have you below, Benedetta — I hear steps 
on the stairs, and wish not to be seen.” 

The widow stepped promptly forward to meet her new guests, 
and to show them into a commoner room, below stairs, when 
her movement was anticipated by the door’s opening, and a 
man’s standing on the threshold. It was now too late to 
prevent the intrusion, and a little surprise at the appearance of 
the new-comer held all mute and observant for a minute. 

The person who had followed his ears, and thus reached the 
sanctum sanctorum of Benedetta, was no other than Ithuel Bolt, 
the American seaman, already named in the earlier part of this 
chapter. He was backed by a Genoese, who had come in the 
double capacity of interpreter and boon companion. That the 

3 * 


58 


WING-AND-WING, 


reader may the better understand the character he has to deal 
with, however, it may be necessary to digress, by giving a short 
account of the history, appearance, and peculiarities of the former 
individual. 

Ithuel Bolt was a native of what, in this great Union, is 
called the Granite State. Notwithstanding he was not absolutely 
made of the stone in question, there was an absence of the ordinary 
symptoms of natural feeling about him, that had induced many 
of his French acquaintances in particular to affirm that there 
was a good deal more of marble in his moral temperament, at 
least, than usually fell to the lot of human beings. He had the 
outline of a good frame, but it was miserably deficient in the 
filling up. The bone predominated ; the sinews came next in 
consideration ; nor w T as the man without a proper share of 
muscle ; but this last w r as so disposed of as to present nothing 
but angles, whichever way he w r as viewed. Even his thumbs 
and fingers w T ere nearer square than round ; and his very neck, 
which w as bare, though a black silk kerchief w r as tied loosely 
round the throat, had a sort of pentagon look about it, that 
defied all symmetry or grace. His stature was just six feet and 
an inch, when he straightened himself ; as he did from time to 
time, seemingly with a desire to relieve a very inveterate stoop 
in his shoulders ; though it was an inch or tw r o less in the 
position he most affected. His hair w r as dark, and his skin had 
got several coats of confirmed brown on it, by exposure, though 
originally rather fair ; while the features were good, the forehead 
being broad and full, and the mouth positively handsome. 
This singular countenance w T as illuminated by tw r o keen, restless, 
whitish eyes, that resembled, not spots on the sun, but rather 
suns on a spot. 

Ithuel had gone through all the ordinary vicissitudes of an 
American life, beneath those pursuits which are commonly 
thought to be confined to the class of gentlemen. He had been 
farmer’s boy, printer’s devil, schoolmaster, stage-driver, and 
tin-pedlar, before he ever saw the sea. In the way of what he 
called u chores,’' too, he had practised all the known devices of 


W I N G - A N D - W I N G . 


59 


rustic domestic economy ; having assisted even in the washing 
and house-cleaning, besides having passed the evenings of an 
entire winter in making brooms. 

Ithuel had reached his thirtieth year before he dreamed of 
going to sea. An accident, then, put preferment in this form 
before his eyes, and he engaged as the mate of a small coaster, 
on his very first voyage. Fortunately, the master never found 
out his deficiencies, for Ithuel had a self-possessed, confident way 
with him, that prevented discovery, until they were outside of 
the port from which they sailed, when the former was knocked 
overboard by the main boom, and drowned. Most men, so 
circumstanced, would have returned, but Bolt never laid his 
hand to the plough and looked back. Besides, one course was 
quite as easy to him as another. Whatever he undertook he 
usually completed, in some fashion or other, though it were 
often much better had it never been attempted. Fortunately 
it was summer, the wind was fair, and the crew wanted little 
ordering ; and as it was quite a matter of course to steer in the 
right direction, until the schooner was carried safely into her 
proper port, she arrived safely; her people swearing that the 
new mate was the easiest and cleverest officer they had ever 
sailed with. And well they might, for Ithuel took care not to 
issue an order, until he had heard it suggested in terms by one 
of the hands ; and then he never failed to repeat it, word for 
word, as if it were a suggestion of his own. As for the reputa- 
tion of “ cleverest” officer, which he so easily obtained, it will be 
understood, of course, that the term was used in the provincial 
signification that is so common in the part of the world from 
which Ithuel came. He was “ clever ” in this sense, precisely 
in proportion as he was ignorant. His success, on this occasion, 
gained him friends, and he was immediately sent out again as 
the regular master of the craft, in which he had so unexpectedly 
received his promotion. He now threw all the duty on the 
mate ; but so ready was he in acquiring, that, by the end of six 
months, he was a much better sailor than most Europeans would 
have made in three years. As the pitcher that goes too often 


60 


WING-AND-WING. 


to the well is finally broken, so did Ithuel meet with shipwreck, 
at last, in consequence of gross ignorance on the subject of 
navigation. This induced him to try a long voyage, in a more 
subordinate situation, until in the course of time he was 
impressed by the commander of an English frigate, who had 
lost so many of his men by the yellow fever, that he seized upon 
all he could lay his hands on, to supply their places, even Ithuel 
being acceptable in such a strait. 


WING- AND-WIN G, 


61 


CHAPTER IV. 

r 

“ The ship is here put in, 

A Veronese ; Michael Cassio, 

Lieutenant to the warlike Moor Othello, 

Is come on shore.” 

Othello. 

The glance which Ithuel cast around him was brief, but com- 
prehensive. He saw that two of the party in the room were 
much superior to the other four, and that the last were common 
Mediterranean mariners. The position which Benedetta occu- 
pied in the household could not be mistaken, for she proclaimed 
herself its mistress by her very air ; whether it were in the upper 
or in the lower room. 

“ Vino,” said Ithuel, with a flourish of the hand, to help 
along his Italian, this and one or two more being the only words 
of the language he ventured to use directly, or without calling 
in the assistance of his interpreter ; “ vino — vino, vino, Signora.” 
“ Si, si, si, Signore,” answered Benedetta, laughing, and this 
with her meaning eyes so keenly riveted on the person of her 
new guest, as to make it very questionable whether she were 
amused by anything but his appearance ; “ your eccellenza shall 
be served ; but whether at a paid, or a half-paul the flask, 
depends on your own pleasure. We keep wine at both prices, 
and,” glancing towards the table of Andrea Barrofaldi, “ usually 
serve the first to signori of rank and distinction.” 

“ What does the woman say ?” growled Ithuel to his inter- 
preter, a Genoese, who, from having served several years in the 
British navy, spoke English with a very tolerable facility ; “ you 
know what we want, and just tell her to hand it over, and I 
will fork out her St. Paul without more words. What a des- 
perate liking your folks have for saints, Philip-o,” for so Ithuel 


62 


WING-AND-WING. 


pronounced Filippo, the name of his companion — “ what a des- 
perate liking your folks have for saints, Philip-o, that they must 
even call their money a’ter them.” 

“ It not so in America, Signor Bolto ?” asked the Genoese, 
after he had explained his wishes to Benedetta, in Italian ; “ it 
no ze fashion in your country to honor ze saints ?” 

“ Honor the saints !” repeated Ithuel, looking curiously around 
him, as he took a seat at a third table, shoving aside the glasses 
at the same time, and otherwise disposing of everything within 
reach of his hand, so as to suit his own notions of order, and 
then leaning hack on his chair until the tw r o ends of the uprights 
dug into the plaster behind him, while the legs on which the 
fabric was poised cracked with his w' eight ; “ honor the saints ! 
we should be much more like to dishonor them ! What does 
any one want to honor a saint for ? A saint is but a human — 
a man like you and me, after all the fuss you make about ’em. 
Saints abound in my country, if you’d believe people’s account 
of themselves.” 

“Not quite so, Signor Bolto. You and me no great saint, 
Italian honor saint because he holy and good.” 

By this time Ithuel had got his two feet on the round of his 
seat, his knees spread so as to occupy as much space as an 
unusual length of leg w r ould permit, and his arms extended on 
the tops of two chairs, one on each side of him, in a way to 
resemble what is termed a spread eagle. 

Andrea Barrofaldi regarded all this with wonder. It is true, 
he expected to meet with no great refinement in a wine-house 
like that of Benedetta ; but he was unaccustomed to see such 
nonchalance of manner in a man of the stranger’s class, or, 
indeed, of any class ; the Italian mariners present occupying 
their chairs in simple and respectful attitudes, as if each man 
had the wish to be as little obtrusive as possible. Still he let 
no sign of his surprise escape him, noting all that passed in a 
grave but attentive silence. Perhaps he saw traces of national 
peculiarities, if not of national history, in the circumstances. 

“ Honor saint because he holy and good !” said Ithuel, with - 


WING-AND-WING. 


63 


a very ill-concealed disdain — “ why, that is the very reason why 
we don't honor ’em. When you honor a holy man, mankind 
may consait you do it on that very account, and so fall into the 
notion you worship him, which would he idolatry, the awfullest 
of all sins, and the one to which every ra’al Christian gives the 
widest bairth. I would rayther worship this flask of wine any 
day, than worship the best saint on your parsons’ books.” 

As Filippo was no casuist, but merely a believer, and Ithuel 
applied the end of the flask to his mouth, at that moment, from 
an old habit of drinking out of jugs and bottles, the Genoese 
made no answer ; keeping his eyes on the flask, which, by the 
length of time it remained at the other’s mouth, appeared to be 
in great danger of being exhausted ; a matter of some moment 
to one of his own relish for the liquor. 

“ Do you call this wine !” exclaimed Ithuel, when he stopped 
literally to take breath ; u there isn’t as much true granite in a 
gallon on’t as in a pint of our cider. I could swallow a butt, and 
then walk a plank as narrow as your religion, Philip-o !” 

This was said, nevertheless, with a look of happiness which 
proved how much the inward man was consoled by what it had 
received, and a richness of expression about the handsome 
mouth, that denoted a sort of consciousness that it had been the 
channel of a most agreeable communication to the stomach. 
Sooth to say, Benedetta had brought up a flask at a paul, or at 
about four cents a bottle ; a flask of the very quality which she 
had put before the vice-governatore ; and this was a liquor that 
flowed so smoothly over the palate, and of a quality so really 
delicate, that Ithuel was by no means aware of the potency of 
the guest which he had admitted to his interior. 

All this time the vice-governatore was making up his mind 
concerning the nation and character of the stranger. That he 
should mistake Bolt for an Englishman was natural enough, and 
the fact had an influence in again unsettling his opinion as to 
the real flag under which the lugger sailed. Like most Italians 
of that day, he regarded all the families of the northern hordes 
as a species of barbarians- — an opinion that the air and deport- 


64 


WIN6-AND-WING. 


ment of Ithuel had no direct agency in changing ; for, while this 
singular being was not brawlingly rude and vulgar, like the 
coarser set of his own countrymen, with whom he had occasion- 
ally been brought in contact, he was so manifestly uncivilized 
in many material points, as to put his claim to gentility much 
beyond a cavil, and that in a negative way. 

“ You are a Genoese ?” said Andrea to Filippo, speaking with 
the authority of one who had a right to question. 

“ Signore, I am, at your eccellenza’s orders, though in foreign 
sendee at this present moment.” 

“ In what service, friend ? I am in authority, here in Elba, 
and ask no more than is my duty.” 

“ Eccellenza, I can well believe this,” answered Filippo, rising 
and making a respectful salutation, and one, too, that was with- 
out any of the awkwardness of the same act in a more northern 
man, “ as it is to be seen in your appearance. I am now in the 
service of the king of England.” 

Filippo said this steadily, though his eyes dropped to the 
floor, under the searching scrutiny they endured. The answer 
of the vice-go vernatore was delivered coolly, though it was much 
to the point. 

“ You are happy,” he said, “in getting so honorable masters; 
more especially as your own country has again fallen into the 
hands of the French. Every Italian heart must yearn for a 
government that has its existence and its motives on this side of 
the Alps.” 

“ Signore, we are a republic to-day, and ever have been, you 
know.” 

“ Aye — such as it is. But your companion speaks no Italian 
— he is an Inodese ?” 

“ No, Signore — an Americano : a sort of an Inglese, and yet 
no Inglese, after all. He loves England very little, if I can 
judge by his discourse.” 

“Un’ Americano!” repeated Andrea Barrofaldi; “Ameri- 
cano !” exclaimed Vito Yiti ; “ Americano !” said each of the 
mariners in succession, every eye turning with lively curiosity 


WING-AND-WING. 


65 


towards the subject of the discourse, who bore it all with 
appropriate steadiness and dignity. The reader is not to be 
surprised that an American was then regarded with curiosity, in 
a country like Italy ; for, two years later, when an American 
ship of war anchored suddenly before the town of Constantino- 
ple, and announced her nation, the authorities of the Sublime 
Porte were ignorant that such a country existed. It is true, 
Leghorn was beginning to be much frequented by American 
ships, in the year 1799 ; but even with these evidences before 
their eyes, the people of the very ports into which these traders 
entered, were accustomed to consider their crews a species of 
Englishmen, who managed to sail the vessels for the negroes at 
home.* In a word, two centuries and a half of national 
existence, and more than half a century of national independ- 
ence, have not yet sufficed to teach all the inhabitants of the 
old world, that the great modern Republic is peopled by men 
of a European origin, and possessing white skins. Even of 
those who are aware of the fact, the larger proportion, perhaps, 
have obtained their information through works of a light 
character, similar to this of our own, rather than by the more 
legitimate course of regular study, and a knowledge of history. 

“ Si,” repeated Ithuel, with emphasis, as soon as he heard his 
nationality thus alluded to, and found all eyes on himself — “ Si, 
oon Americano — I’m not ashamed of my country ; and if you’re 
any way partic’lar in such matters, I come from New Hamp- 
shire — or, what we call the Granite state. Tell ’em this, 
Philip-o, and let me know their idees, in answer.” 

Filippo translated this speech as well as he could, as he did 
the reply ; and it may as well be stated here, once for all, that 
in the dialogue which succeeded, the instrumentality of this 
interpreter was necessary that the parties might understand each 


* As recently as 1828, the author of this book was at Leghorn. The Delaware, 
80, had just left there ; and speaking of her appearance to a native of the place, who 
supposed the writer to be an Englishman, the latter observed — “ Of course, her 
people were all blacks.” “ I thought so, too, signore, until I went on board the 
ship,” was the answer ; “ but they are as white as you and I are.” 


66 


WING-AND-WING. 


other. The reader will, therefore, give Filippo credit for this 
arrangement, although we shall furnish the different speeches 
very much as if the parties fully comprehended what was said. 

“ Uno stato di granito /” repeated the vice-governatore, 
looking at the podestu with some doubt in the expression of his 
countenance — “ it must be a painful existence which these poor 
people endure, to toil for their food in such a region. Ask him, 
good Filippo, if they have any wine in his part of the world.” 

“ Wine !” echoed Ithuel ; “ tell the Signore that w r e shouldn’t 
call this stuff wine at all. Nothing goes down our throats that 
doesn’t rasp like a file, and burn like a chip out of V esuvius. I 
wfish, now, w r e had a drink of New England rum here, in order 
to show him the difference. I despise the man who thinks all 
his own things the best, just because they’re his’n ; but taste is 
taste, a’ter all, and there’s no denying it.” 

“ Perhaps the Signor Americano can give us an insight into 
the religion of his country — or are the Americani pagans ? I 
do not remember, Vito, to have read anything of the religion 
of that quarter of the world.” 

“ Religion, too ! — well, a question like this, now, would make 
a stir among our folks in New 7 Hampshire ! Look here, Signore ; 
we don’t call your ceremonies, and images, and robes, and 
ringing of bells, and bowfing and scraping, a religion at all ; any 
more than w 7 e should call this smooth liquor, wane.” 

Ithuel was more under the influence of this “ smooth liquor ” 
than he was aware of, or he would not have been so loud in the 
expression of his dissent ; as experience had taught him the 
necessity of reserve on such subjects, in most Catholic commu- 
nities. But of all this the Signor Barrofaldi w r as ignorant, and 
he made his answer with the severity of a good Catholic, though 
it was wfith the temper of a gentleman. 

“ What the Americano calls our ceremonies, and images, and 
ringing of bells, are probably not understood by him,” he said ; 
“ since a country as little civilized as his ow r n cannot very well 
comprehend the mysteries of a profound and ancient religion.” 
u Civilized ! I calculate that it would stump this part of the 


WING-AND-WING, 


67 


world to produce such a civilization as our very youngest 
children are brought up on. But it’s of no use talking , and so 
we will drink.” 

Andrea perceiving, indeed, that there was not much use in 
talking , more especially as Filippo had been a good deal mysti- 
fied by the word “ stump” was now disposed to abandon the 
idea of a dissertation on “ religion, manners, and laws,” to come 
at once to the matter that brought him into the present 
company. 

“ This Americano is also a servant of the English king, it 
would seem,” he carelessly remarked ; “ I remember to have 
heard that there was a war between his country and that of 
the Inglesi, in which the French assisted the Americani to 
obtain a sort of national independence. What that independence 
is, I do not know ; but it is probable that the people of the New 
World are still obliged to find mariners to serve in the navy 
of their former masters.” 

Ithuel’s muscles twitched, and an expression of intense bitter- 
ness darkened his countenance. Then he smiled in a sort of 
derision, and gave vent to his feelings in words. 

“ Perhaps you’re right, Signore ; perhaps this is the ra’al 
truth of the matter ; for the British do take our people just the 
same as if they had the best right in the world to ’em. After 
all, we may be serving our masters ; and all we say and think 
at home, about independence, is just a flash in the pan ! 
Notwithstanding, some on us contrive, by hook or by crook, to 
take our revenge when occasion offers ; and if I don’t sarve 
master John Bull an ill turn, whenever luck throws a chance in 
my way, may I never see a bit of the old State again — granite 
or rotten wood.” 

This speech was not very closely translated, but enough was 
said to awaken curiosity in the vice-go vernatore, who thought it 
odd one who served among the English should entertain such 
feelings towards them. As for Ithuel himself, he had not 
observed his usual caution ; but, unknown to himself, the oily 
wine had more “ granite” in it than he imagined, and then he 




68 


WING-AND-WING. 


seldom spoke of the abuse of impressment without losing more 
or less of his ordinary self-command. 

“ Ask the Americano when he first entered into the service 
of the king of Inghilterra,” said Andrea, “ and why he stays in 
it, if it is unpleasant to him, when so many opportunities of 
quitting it offer ?” 

“ I never entered,” returned Ithuel, taking the word in its 
technical meaning ; “ they pressed me, as if I had been a dog 
they wanted to turn a spit, and kept me seven long years fight- 
ing their accursed battles, and otherwise sarving their eends. I 
was over here, last year, at the mouth of the Nile, and in that 
pretty bit of work — and off' Cape St. Vincent, too — and in a 
dozen more of their battles, and sorely against my will, on 
every account. This w 7 as hard to be borne, but the hardest of 
it has not yet been said ; nor do I know that I shall tell on’t at 
all.” 

“ Anything the Americano may think proper to relate will be 
listened to with pleasure.” 

Ithuel was a good deal undecided whether to go on or not ; 
but taking a fresh pull at the flask, it warmed his feelings to the 
sticking point. 

u Why, it was adding insult to injury. It’s bad enough 
to injure a man, but when it comes to insulting him into the 
bargain, there must be but little grit in his natur’ if it don’t strike 
fire.” 

“And yet few are w r ronged who are not calumniated,” 
observed the philosophical vice-governatore. “ This is only too 
much the case with our Italy, worthy neighbor Vito Viti.” 

“ I calculate the English treat all mankind alike, whether it’s 
in Italy or Ameriky,” for so Ithuel would pronounce this word, 
notwithstanding he had now been cruising in and near the 
Mediterranean several years ; “ but what I found hardest |o 
be borne, was their running their rigs on me about my language 
and ways, which they were all the time laughing at as Yankee 
conversation and usages, while they pretended that the body out 
of which all on it come, was an English body, and so they set it 


WING-AND-WING. 


69 


up to be shot at, by any of their inimies that might happen to 
be jogging along our road. Then, squire, it is generally con- 
saited among us in Ameriky, that we speak much the best 
English a-going ; and sure am I, that none on us call a 4 hog,’ 
an 4 ’og,’ an 4 anchor,’ a 4 hanchor,’ or a 4 horse,’ an 4 ’orse.’ 
What is thought of that matter in this part of the world, Signor 
Squire ?” 

44 We are not critics in your language, but it is reasonable 
to suppose that the English speak their own tongue better than 
any other people. That much must be conceded to them, 
at least, Signor Bolto.” 

44 1 shall acknowledge no such advantage as belonging to 
them. I have not been to school for nothing; not I. The 
English call c-l-e-r-k, dark ; and c-u-c-u-m-b-e-r, cowcumber ; and 
a-n-g-e-1, aingel ; and no reasoning can convince me that’s 
right. I’ve got a string of words of this sort, that they pro- 
nounce out of all reason, that’s as long as a pair of leading-lines, 
or a ship’s tiller-rope. You must know, Signor Squire, I kept 
school in the early part of my life.” 

44 Non e possibile /” exclaimed the vice-governatore, astonish- 
ment actually getting the better of his habitual good breeding ; 
44 you must mean, Signor Americano, that you gave lessons 
in the art of rigging and sailing luggers.” 

44 You never was more mistaken, Signore. I taught on the 
general system, all sorts of things in the edication way ; and had 
one of my scholars made such a blunder as to say 4 dark,’ 
or 4 aingel,’ or 4 harth,’ or 4 cowcumber,’ he wouldn’t have heard 
the last of it, for that week, at least. But I despise an English- 
man from the very bottom of my soul ; for heart isn’t deep 
enough for my feelings.” 

Absurd as Ithuel’s critical dissertations must appear to all 
who have any familiarity with real English, they were not greatly 
below many criticisms on the same subject that often illustrate 
the ephemeral literature of the country ; and, in his last speech, 
he had made a provincial use of the word 44 despise,” that is 
getting to be so common, as almost to supplant the true signifi- 


70 


WXNG-AND-WING, 


cation. By u despising,” Ithuel meant that he “ hated the 
passion, perhaps, of all others, the most removed from the feel- 
ing described by the word he had used, inasmuch as it is 
not easy to elevate those for whom we have a contempt, to the 
level necessary to be hated. 

“ Notwithstanding, the Inglese are not a despicable people,” 
answered Andrea, who was obliged to take the stranger literally, 
since he knew nothing of his provincial use of terms ; “ for a 
nation of the north, they have done marvellous things of late 
years, especially on the ocean ” 

This was more than Ithuel could bear. All his personal 
wrongs, and sooth to say they had been of a most grievous 
nature, arose before his mind, incited and inflamed by national 
dislike ; and he broke out into such an incoherent tirade of 
abuse, as completely set all Filippo’s knowledge of English 
at fault, rendering a translation impossible. By this time, 
Ithuel had swallowed so much of the wine, a liquor which had 
far more body than he supposed, that he was ripe for mischief, 
and it was only his extreme violence that prevented him from 
betraying more, than, just at the moment, would have been 
prudent. The vice-go vernatore listened with attention, in the 
hope of catching something useful ; but it all came to his ears 
a confused mass of incoherent vituperation, from which he could 
extract nothing. The scene, consequently, soon became unplea- 
sant, and Andrea Barrofaldi took measures to put an end to it. 
Watching a favorable occasion to speak, he put in a word, as 
the excited Bolt paused an instant, to take breath. 

“ Signore,” observed the vice-governatore, “ all this may 
be very true ; but as coming from one who serves the Inglese, 
to one who is the servant of their ally, the Grand Duke of Tus- 
cany, it is quite as extraordinary as it is uncalled for ; and 
we will talk of other things. This lugger, on board which you 
sail, is out of all question English, notwithstanding what you 
tell us of the nation.” 

“ Aye, she is English,” answered Ithuel, with a grim smile, 
“ and a pretty boat she is. But then it is no fault of hers, and 


WING-AND-WING. 


71 


what can’t be cured must be endured. A Guernsey craft, and a 
desperate goer, when she wakes up and puts on her travelling 
boots.” 

“ These mariners have a language of their own,” remarked 
Andrea to Vito Viti, smiling as in consideration of Ithuel’s 
nautical habits ; “ to you and me, the idea of a vessel’s using 
boots, neighbor, seems ridiculous ; but the seamen, in their 
imaginations, bestow all sorts of objects on them. It is curious 
to hear them converse, good Vito ; and now I am dwelling 
here on our island, I have often thought of collecting a number 
of their images, in order to aid in illustrating the sort of litera- 
ture that belongs to their calling. This idea of a lugger’s put- 
ting on her boots is quite heroic.” 

Now Vito Viti, though an Italian with so musical a name, 
was no poet, but a man so very literal, withal, as to render him 
exceedingly matter of fact in most of his notions. Accordingly, 
he saw no particular beauty in the idea of a vessel’s wearing 
boots ; and, though much accustomed to defer to the vice- 
governatore’s superior knowledge and more extensive reading, 
he had the courage, on this occasion, to put in an objection to 
the probability of the circumstance mentioned. 

“ Signor Vice-governatore,” he replied, “ all is not gold that 
glitters. Fine words sometimes cover poor thoughts, and, I 
take it, this is an instance of what I mean. Long as I have 
lived in Porto Ferrajo, and that is now quite fifty years, 
seeing that I was born here, and have been off the island but 
four times in my life — and long, therefore, as I have lived here, 
I never saw a vessel in the harbor that wore boots, or even 
shoes.” 

“ This is metaphorical, good Vito, and must be looked at in a 
poetical point of view. Homer speaks of goddesses holding 
shields before their favorite warriors ; while Ariosto makes rats 
and asses hold discourse together, as if they were members of an 
academy. All this is merely the effect of imagination, Signore ; 
and he who has the most, is the aptest at inventing circumstan- 
ces, which, though not strictly true, are vastly agreeable.” 


12 


V 


WING-AND-WING. 


a As for Homer and Ariosto, Signor Vice-go vernatore, I 
doubt if either ever saw a vessel with a boot on, or if either ever 
knew as much about craft in general, as we who live here in 
Porto Ferrajo. Harkee, friend Filippo, just ask this Ameri- 
cano if, in his conn try, he ever saw ‘vessels wear boots. 
Put the question plainly, and without any of your accursed 
poetry.” 

Filippo did as desired, leaving Ithuel to put his own construc- 
tion on the object of the inquiry ; all that had just passed being 
sealed to him, in consequence of its having been uttered in good 
Tuscan. 

“ Boots !” repeated the native of the Granite state, looking 
round him drolly ; “ perhaps not exactly the foot-part, and the 
soles, for they ought, in reason, to be under water ; but every 
vessel that isn’t coppered shows her boot -top — of them , I’ll 
swear I’ve seen ten thousand, more or less.” 

This answer mystified the vice-go vernatore, and completely 
puzzled Vito Viti. The grave mariners at the other table, too, 
thought it odd, for in no other tongue is the language of the 
sea as poetical, or figurative, as in the English ; and the term of 
boot-top , as applied to a vessel, was Greek to them, as well as 
to the other listeners. They conversed among themselves on the 
subject, while their two superiors were holding a secret confer- 
ence on the other side of the room, giving the American time 
to rally his recollection, and remember the precise circumstances 
in which not only he himself, but all his shipmates, were placed. 
No one could be more wily and ingenious than this man, when 
on his guard, though the inextinguishable hatred with which he 
regarded England and Englishmen, had come so near causing 
him to betray a secret which it was extremely important, at that 
moment, to conceal. At length a general silence prevailed, the 
different groups of speakers ceasing to converse, and all looking 
towards the vice-go vernatore, as if in expectation that he was 
about to suggest something that might give a turn to the dis- 
course. Nor was this a mistake, for, after inquiring of Bene- 
detta if she had a private room, he invited Ithuel and the 


K 


TING-AND-WIN6. 


73 


interpreter to follow him into it, leading the way, attended by 
the podesta. As soon as these four were thus separated from 
the others, the door was closed, and the two Tuscans came at 
once to the point. 

“ Signor Americano,” commenced the vice-governatore, 
“ between those who understand each other, there is little need 
of many words. This is a language which is comprehended all 
over the world, and I put it before you in the plainest manner, 
that we may have no mistake.” 

u It is tolerable plain, sartain !” exclaimed Ithuel — “ two — 
four — six — eight — ten — all good-looking gold pieces, that in 
this part of the world you call zecchini — or sequins, as we name 
’em, in English. What have I done, Signor Squire, or what am 
I to do for these twenty dollars ? Name your tarms ; this 
working in the dark is ag’in the grain of my natur’ !” 

“You are to tell the truth ; we suspect the lugger of being 
French ; and by putting the proof in our hands, you will make 
us your friends, and serve yourself.” 

Andrea Barrofaldi knew little of America and Americans, but 
he had imbibed the common European notion that money was 
the great deity worshipped in this hemisphere, and that all he 
had to do was to offer a bribe, in order to purchase a man of 
Ithuel’s deportment and appearance. In his own island ten 
sequins would buy almost any mariner of the port to do 
any act short of positive legal criminality ; and the idea that a 
barbarian of the west would refuse such a sum, in preference to 
selling his shipmates, never crossed his mind. Little, however, 
did the Italian understand the American. A greater knave than 
Ithuel, in his own way, it was not easy to find ; but it shocked 
all his notions of personal dignity, self-respect, and republican 
virtue, to be thus unequivocally offered a bribe ; and had the 
lugger not been so awkwardly circumstanced, he would have 
been apt to bring matters to a crisis at once by throwing the 
gold into the vice-governatore’s face ; although, knowing where 
it was to be found, he might have set about devising some 
means of cheating the owner out of it at the very next instant. 

4 

A 


74 


WING-AND-WING. 


Boon or bribe, directly or unequivocally offered in the shape of 
money, as coming from the superior to the inferior, or from the 
corrupter to the corrupted, had he never taken, and it would 
have appeared in his eyes a species of degradation to receive the 
first, and of treason to his nationality to accept the last ; though 
he would lie, invent, manage, and contrive, from morning till 
night, in order to transfer even copper from the pocket of his 
neighbor to his own, under the forms of opinion and usage. In 
a word, Ithuel, as relates to such things, is what is commonly 
called law-honest, with certain broad salvoes, in favor of smug- 
gling of all sorts, in foreign countries (at home he never 
dreamed of such a thing), custom-house oaths, and legal trickery ; 
and this is just the class of men apt to declaim the loudest 
against the roguery of the rest of mankind. Had there been a 
law giving half to the informer, he might not have hesitated to 
betray the lugger, and all she contained, more especially in the 
w r ay of regular business ; but he had long before determined 
that every Italian was a treacherous rogue, and not at all to be 
trusted like an American rogue ; and then his indomitable dis- 
like of England would have kept him true in a case of much less 
complicated risk than this. Commanding himself, however, and 
regarding the sequins with natural longing, he answered with a 
simplicity of manner that both surprised and imposed on the 
vice-go vernatore . 

“ No — no — Signor Squire,” he said ; “in the first place, I’ve 
no secret to tell ; and it would be a trickish thing to touch your 
money and not give you its worth in return ; and then the lug- 
ger is Guernsey built, and carries a good King George’s com- 
mission. In my part of the world we never take gold unless 
we sell something of equal valie. Gifts and begging we look 
upon as mean and unbecoming, and the next thing to going on 
to the town as a pauper ; though if I can sarve you lawfully, 
like, I’m just as willing to work for your money as for that of 
any other man. I’ve no preference for king’s in that par* 
tic’lar.” 

All this time Ithuel held out the sequins, with a show of 


WING-AND-WING. 


75 


returning them, though in a very reluctant manner, leaving 
Andrea, who comprehended his actions much better than his 
words, to understand that he declined selling his secret. 

“ You can keep the money, friend,” observed the vice- 
governatore, “ for when we give, in Italy, it is not our practice 
to take the gift back again. In the morning, perhaps, you will 
remember something that it may be useful for me to know.” 

“ I’ve no occasion for gifts, nor is it exactly accordin’ to the 
Granite rule to accept ’em,” answered Ithuel, a little sharply. 
“ Handsome conduct is handsome conduct ; and I call the 
fellow-creetur’ that would oppress and overcome another with a 
gift, little better than an English aristocrat. Hand out the 
dollars in the way of trade, in as large amounts as you will, 
and I will find the man, and that, too, in the lugger, who will 
see you out in’t to your heart’s content. Harkee, Philip-o ; 
tell the gentleman, in an undertone, like, about the three 
kegs of tobacco we got out of the Virginy ship the day we 
made the north end of Corsica, and perhaps that will satisfy 
him we are not his enemies. There is no use in bawling it out 
so that the woman can hear what you say, or the men who are 
drinking in the other room.” 

“ Signor Ithuello,” answered the Genoese, in English, “ it will 
no do to let these gentlemen know anything of them kegs — one 
being the deputy-governor and. the other a magistrate. The 
lugger will be seized for a smuggler, which will be the next 
thing to being seized for an enemy.” 

“ Yet I’ve a longing for them ’ere sequins, to tell you the 
truth, Philip-o ! I see no other means of getting at ’em, except 
it be through them three kegs of tobacco.” 

“ Why you don’t take ’em, when the Signore put ’em into 
your very hand ? All you do is put him in your pocket, and 
say, ‘ Eccellenza, what you please to wish V ” 

“ That isn’t Granite, man, but more in the natur’ of you 
Italians. The most disgraceful thing on ’airth is a paupe” — so 
Ithuel pronounced “ pauper” — “ the next is a street-beggar ; 
after him comes your chaps who takes sixpences and shillin’s, in 


76 


WING-AND-WING. 


the way of small gifts ; and last of all an Englishman. All 
these I despise ; hut let this Signore say hut the word, in the 
way of trade, and he’ll find me as ready and expairt as he can 
wish. • I’d defy the devil in a trade !” 

Filippo shook his head, positively declining to do so foolish a 
thing as to mention a contraband article to those whose duty it 
would he to punish a violation of the revenue laws. In the 
meanwhile the sequins remained in the hands of Andrea Barro- 
faldi, who seemed greatly at a loss to understand the character 
of the strange being whom chance had thus thrown in his way. 
The money was returned to his purse, hut his distrust and 
doubts were by no means removed. 

“ Answer me one thing, Signor Bolto,” asked the vice- 
go vernatore, after a minute of thought ; “ if you hate the Eng- 
lish so much, why do you serve in their ships ? why not quit 
them on the first good occasion ? The land is as wide as the 
sea, and you must he often on it.” 

“ I calculate, Signor Squire, you don’t often study charts, or 
you wouldn’t fall into such a consait. There’s twice as much 
water as solid ground, on this ’airth, to begin with ; as in reason 
there ought to he, seeing that an acre of good productive land 
is worth five or six of oceans ; and then you have little know- 
ledge of my character and prospects to ask such a question. I 
sarve the king of England to make him pay well for it. If you 
want to take an advantage of a man, first get him in debt ; then 
you can work your will on him, in the most profitable and safe 
manner !” 

All this was unintelligible to the vice-governatore, who, after 
a few more questions and answers, took a civil leave of the 
strangers, intimating to Bene delta that they were not to follow 
him back into the room he had just quitted. 

As for Ithuel, the disappearance of the two gentlemen gave 
him no concern ; but as he felt that it might be unsafe to drink 
any more wine, he threw down his reckoning, and strolled into 
the street, followed by his companion. Within an hour from 
that moment, the three kegs of tobacco were in the possession 


WING-AND-WING. 


11 

of a shopkeeper of the place, that brief interval sufficing to 
enable the man to make his bargain, and to deliver the articles, 
which was his real object on shore. This little smuggling trans- 
action was carried on altogether without the knowledge of 
Raoul Yvard, who was to all intents and purposes the captain 
of his own lugger, and in whose character there were many 
traits of chivalrous honor, mixed up with habits and pursuits 
that would not seem to promise qualities so elevated. But this 
want of a propensity to turn a penny in his own way, was not 
the only distinguishing characteristic between the commander 
of the little craft, and the being he occasionally used as a mask 
to his true purposes. 


/ 


78 


WING-AND-WING. 


CHAPTER y. 

/ 

“ The great contention of the sea and skies 
Parted our fellowship : — But, hark ! a sail !” 

Cassio. 

Whatever may have been the result of the vice-go vernatore’s 
further inquiries and speculations that night, they were not 
known. After consuming an hour in the lower part of the 
town, in and around the port, he and the podesta sought their 
homes and their pillows, leaving the lugger riding quietly at her 
anchor in the spot where she was last presented to the reader’s 
attention. If Raoul Yvard and Ghita had another interview, 
too, it was so secretly managed as to escape all observation, and 
can form no part of this narrative. 

A Mediterranean morning, at midsummer, is one of those 
balmy and soothing periods of the day, that affect the mind as well 
as the body. Everywhere we have the mellow and advancing 
light that precedes the appearance of the sun — the shifting hues 
of the sky — that pearly softness that seems to have been invented 
to make us love the works of God’s hand, and the warm glow 
of the brilliant sun ; but, it is not everywhere that these fasci- 
nating changes occur, on a sea whose blue vies with the darkest 
depths of the void of space, beneath a climate that is as winning 
as the scenes it adorns, and amid mountains whose faces reflect 
every varying shade of light, with the truth and the poetry of 
nature. Such a morning as this last, was that which succeeded 
the night with which our tale opened, bringing with it the 
reviving movements of the port and town. Italy, as a whole, 
is remarkable for an appearance of quiet and repose, that are 
little known in the more bustling scenes of the greedier com- 
merce of our own quarter of the world, or, indeed, in those of 


WING-AND-WING. 


79 




most of the northern nations of Europe. There is in her 
aspect, modes of living, and even in her habits of business, an 
air of decayed gentility, that is wanting to the ports, shops, and 
marts of the more vulgar parts of the world ; as if conscious 
of having been so long the focus of human refinement, it was 
unbecoming, in these later days, to throw aside all traces of her 
history and power. Man, and the climate, too, seem in unison ; 
one meeting the cares of life with a far niente manner, that is 
singularly in accordance with the dreamy and soothing atmo- 
sphere he respires. 

Just as day dawned, the fall of a billet of wood on the 
deck of the Feu-Follet, gave the first intimation that any one 
was stirring in or near the haven. If there had been a watch 
on board that craft throughout the night — and doubtless 
such had been the case — it had been kept in so quiet 
and unobtrusive a manner, as to render it questionable to 
the jealous eyes which had been riveted on her from the shore 
until long past midnight. Now, however, everything was in 
motion, and in less than five minutes after that billet of wood 
had fallen from the hands of the cook, as he was about to light 
his galley fire, the tops of the hats and caps of some fifty or 
sixty sailors were seen moving to and fro, just above the 
upper edge of the bulwarks. Three minutes later, and two 
men appeared near the knight-heads, each with his arms 
folded, looking at the vessel’s hawse, and taking a survey of the 
state of the harbor, and of objects on the surrounding shore. 

The two individuals who were standing in the conspicuous 
position named, were Raoul Yvard, himself, and Ithuel Bolt. 
Their conversation was in French, the part borne by the last 
being most execrably pronounced, and paying little or no atten- 
tion to grammar; but it is necessary that we should render 
what was said by both into the vernacular, with the peculiarities 
that belonged to the men. 

“I see only the Austrian that is worth the trouble of a 
movement,” quietly observed Raoul, whose eye was scanning 
the inner harbor, his own vessel lying two hundred yards with- 


80 


WING-AND-WING. 


out it, it will be remembered — “ and she is light, and would 
scarce pay for sending her to Toulon. These feluccas would 
embarrass us, without affording much reward, and then their 
loss would ruin the poor devils of owners, and bring misery into 
many a family.” 

“ Well, that’s a new idee, for a privateer !” said Ithuel sneer- 
ingly ; “ luck’s luck, in these matters, and every man must 
count on what war turns up. I wish you’d read the history of 
our revolution, and then you’d ha’ seen that liberty and equality 
are not to be had without some ups and downs in fortin’s and 
chances.” 

“ The Austrian might do,” added Raoul, who paid little 
attention to his companion’s remarks, “if he were a streak or 
two lower in the water — but, after all, E-too-rfZ,” for so he pro- 
nounced the other’s name — “ I do not like a capture that is 
made without any 6clat, or spirit, in the attack and defence.” 
“Well,” — this word Ithuel invariably pronounced, “wa-a-1” 
- — “ well, to my notion, the most profitable and the most agree- 
able battles, are the shortest ; and the pleasantest victories are 
them in which there’s the most prize money. Howsever, as 
that brig is only an Austrian, I care little w T hat you may detail- 
mine to do with her ; was she English, I’d head a boat myself, 
to go in and tow her out here, expressly to have the satisfaction 
of burning her. English ships make a cheerful fire !” 

“ And that would be a useless waste of property, and 
perhaps of blood, and would do no one any good, EtooeZZ.” 

“ But it would do the accursed English harm , and that 
counts for a something, in my reckoning. Nelson wasn’t so over 
scrupulous, at the Nile, about burning your ships, Mr. Rule — ” 

“ Tonnerre ! why do you always bring in that malheureux 
Nile ? — Is it not enough that we w r ere beaten — disgraced — 
destroyed — that a friend must tell us of it so often ?” 

“ You forget, Mr. Rule, that I was an ini my, then” returned 
Ithuel, with a grin and a grim smile. “ If you’ll take the 
trouble to examine my back, you’ll find on it the marks of the 
lashes I got for just telling my Captain that it was ag’in the 


*4 


WING-AND-WING. 


81 


grain for me, a republican as I was by idee and natur’, to fight 
other republicans. He told me he would first try the grain of 
my skin, and see how that would agree with what he called my 
duty ; and I must own, he got the best on’t ; I fit like a tiger 
ag’in you, rather than be flogged twice the same day. Flogging 
on a sore back is an awful argument !” 

“ And now has come the hour of revenge, pauvre Etooell ; 
this time you are on the right side, and may fight with heart 
and mind those you so much hate.” 

A long and gloomy silence followed, during which Raoul 
turned his face aft, and stood looking at the movements of the 
men as they washed the decks, while Ithuel seated himself on a 
knight-head, and his chin resting on his hand, he sat ruminat- 
ing, in bitterness of spirit, like Milton’s devil, in some of his dire 
cogitations, on the atrocious wrong of which he had really been 
the subject. Bodies of men are proverbially heartless. They com- 
mit injustice without reflection, and vindicate their abuses with- 
out remorse. And yet it may be doubtful if either a nation or 
an individual ever tolerated or was an accessory in a wrong, 
that the act, sooner or later, did not recoil on the offending party, 
through that mysterious principle of right which is implanted 
in the nature of things, bringing forth its own results as the 
seed produces its grain, and the tree its fruits ; a supervision of 
holiness that it is usual to term (and rightly enough, when we 
remember who created principles) the providence of God. Let 
that people dread the future, who, in their collective capacity, 
systematically encourage injustice of any sort ; since their own 
eventual demoralization will follow as a necessary consequence, 
even though they escape punishment in a more direct form. 

We shall not stop to relate the moody musings of the New 
Hampshire man. Unnurtured, and, in many respects, unprin- 
cipled as he was, he had his clear conceptions of the injustice 

of which he had been one among thousands of other victims ; 

* 

and, at that moment, he would have held life itself as a cheap 
sacrifice, could he have had his fill of revenge. Time and 
again, while a captive on board the English ship in which he 

4 * 


82 


WIN G’AND-WIN G. 


had been immured for years, had he meditated the desperate 
expedient of blowing up the vessel ; and had not the means 
been wanting, mercenary and selfish as he ordinarily seemed, he 
was every way equal to executing so dire a scheme, in order to 
put an end to the lives of those who were the agents in wrong- 
ing him, and his own sufferings, together. The subject never 
recurred to his mind, without momentarily changing the cur- 
rent of its thoughts, and tinging all his feelings with an 
intensity of bitterness that it was painful to bear. At length, 
sighing heavily, he rose from the knight-head, and turned 
towards the mouth of the bay, as if to conceal from Raoul the 
expression of his countenance. This act, however, was scarcely 
done, ere he started, and an exclamation escaped him, that 
induced his companion to turn quickly on his heel, and face the 
sea. There, indeed, the growing light enabled both to discover 
an object that could scarcely be other than one of interest to 
men in their situation. 

It has been said already, that the deep bay, on the side of 
which stands the town of Porto Ferrajo, opens to the north, 
looking in the direction of the headland of Piombino. On the 
right of the bay, the land, high and broken, stretches several 
miles ere it forms what is called the Canal, while, on the left, it 
terminates with the low bluff on which stands the residence then 
occupied by Andrea Barrofaldi ; and which has since become so 
celebrated as the abode of one far Greater than the worth v vice- 

O J 

governatore. The haven lying under these heights, on the left 
of the bay, and by the side of the town, it followed, as a mat- 
ter of course, that the anchorage of the lugger was also in this 
quarter of the bay, commanding a clear dew to the north, in 
the direction of the main land, as far as the eye could reach. 
The width of the Canal, or of the passage between Elba and the 
Point of Piombino, may be some six or seven miles ; and at the 
distance of less than one mile from the northern end of the 
former, stands a small rocky islet, which has since become 
known to the world as the spot on which Napoleon stationed a 
corporal’s guard, by way of taking possession, when he found 


WING-AND-WING. 


83 


his whole empire dwindled to the sea-girt mountains in its vici- 
nity. With the existence and position of this island both 
Raoul and Ithuel were necessarily acquainted, for they had seen 
it and noted its situation the previous night, though it had 
escaped their notice that, from the place where the Feu-Follet 
had brought up, it was not visible. In their first look to sea- 
ward, that morning, which was ere the light had grown suffi- 
ciently strong to render the houses on the opposite side of the 
bay distinct, an object had been seen in this quarter, which had 
then been mistaken for the rock ; but, by this time, the light was 
strong enough to show that it was a very different thing. In a 
word, that which both Raoul and Ithuel had fancied an islet, 
was neither more nor less than a ship. 

The stranger’s head was to the northward, and his motion, 
before a light southerly air, could not have exceeded a knot an 
hour. He had no other canvas spread than his three topsails 
and jib ; though his courses were hanging in the brails. His 
black hull was just beginning to show its details ; and along the 
line of light yellow that enlivened his side, were visible the dark 
intervals of thirteen ports ; a real gun frowning in each. 
Although the hammocks were not stowed, and the hammockr 
cloths had that empty and undressed look which is so common 
to a man-of-war in the night, it was apparent that the ship had 
an upper deck, with quarter-deck and forecastle batteries ; or, in 
other words, that she was a frigate. As she had opened the 
town of Porto Ferrajo several minutes before she was herself 
seen from the Feu-Follet, an ensign was hanging from the end 
of her gaff, though there was not sufficient air to open its folds, 
in a way to let the national character of the stranger be known. 

u Peste !” exclaimed Raoul Yvard, as soon as he had gazed a 
minute at the stranger, in silence ; “ a pretty cul de sac are we 
in, if that gentleman should happen to be an Englishman ! What 
say you, Etooell ; can you make out anything of that ensign — 
your eyes are the best in the lugger ?” 

“ It is too much for any sight to detairmine, at this distance, 
and that before the sun is risen ; but, by having a glass ready, 


84 


WING-AND-WING. 


we shall soon know. Five minutes will bring us the Great 
Luminary, as our minister used to call him.” 

Ithuel had descended from the bulwark, while speaking ; 
and he now went aft in quest of a glass, returning to his old 
station, bringing two of the instruments ; one of which he 
handed to his commander, while he kept the other himself. 
In another minute both had levelled their glasses at the stranger, 
whom each surveyed attentively, for some time, in profound 
silence. 

“ Par die ./” exclaimed Raoul, “that ensign is the tri-color, 
or my eyes are untrue to my owm country. Let me see, 
Etooell ; what ship of forty-two, or forty-four, has the republic 
on this coast ?” 

“ Not that , Monsieur Yvard,” answered Ithuel, with a manner 
so changed, and an emphasis so marked, as at once to draw his 
companion’s attention from the frigate to his own countenance ; 
“not that , Monsieur Capitaing. It is not easy for a bird to 
forget the cage in which he was shut up for two years ; if that 
is not the accursed Proserpine, I have forgotten the cut of my 
own jib !” 

“ La Proserpine ?” repeated Raoul, w T ho was familiar with his 
shipmate’s adventures, and did not require to be told his mean- 
ing ; “ if you are not mistaken, Etooell, le Feu-Follet needs put 
her lantern under a shade. This is only a forty, if I can count 
her ports.” 

“ I care nothing for ports or guns ; it is the Proserpine ; 
and the only harm I wish her is, that she were at the bottom 
of the ocean. The Proserpine, thirty-six, Captain Cuffe ; though 
Captain Flog would have been a better name for him. Yes, the 
Proserpine, thirty-six, Captain Cuffe, Heaven bless her !” 

“ Bah ! — this vessel has forty-four guns — now I can see to 
count them ; I make twenty-two of a side.” 

“ Aye, that’s just her measure — a thirty-six on the list and by 
rate, and forty-four by count ; twenty-six long eighteens below ; 
twelve thirty-twos, carronades, on her quarter-deck ; and four 
more carronades, with two barkers, forward. She’d just extin- 


WIN Gr-AND-WIN Gr. 


85 


guish your J ack-o’Lantern, Monsieur Rule, at one broadside ; 
for what are ten twelve-pound carronades, and seventy men, to 
such a frigate ?” 

“ I am not madman enough, Etooell, to dream of fighting a 
frigate, or even a heavy sloop-of-war, with the force you have 
just mentioned ; but I have followed the sea too long to be 
alarmed before I am certain of my danger. La Railleuse is just 
such a ship as that.” 

“ Hearken to reason, Monsieur Rule,” answered Ithuel, 
earnestly ; “ La Railleuse, nor no other French frigate, would 
show her colors to an enemy’s • port ; for it would be uselessly 
telling her errand. How, an English ship might show a French 
ensign, for she always has it in her power to change it ; and 
then she might be benefited by the cheat. The Proserpine is 
French built, and has French legs, too, boots or no boots” — here 
Ithuel laughed a little, involuntarily, but his face instantly 
became serious again — “ and I have heard she was a sister vessel 
of the other. So much for size and appearance ; but every 
shroud, and port, and sail, about yonder craft, is registered on 
my back in a way that no sponge will ever wash out.” 

“ Sa-a-c-r-r-r-e,” muttered Raoul between his teeth ; “ Etooell, 
if an Englishman, he may very well take it into his head to 
come in here, and perhaps anchor within half-a-cable’s length of 
us ! What think you of that, mon brave Americain 

“ That it may very well come to pass ; though one hardly 
sees, either, what is to bring a cruiser into such a place as this. 
Every one hasn’t the curiosity of a Jack-o’Lantern.” 

“ Mais que diable allait-il faire dans cette gattre ! — Bien ; 
we must take the weather as it comes ; sometimes a gale, and 
sometimes a calm. As he shows his own ensign so loyally, let 
us return the compliment, and show ours. Hoist the ensign 
there aft.” 

“ Which one, Monsieur ?” demanded an old demure looking 
quarter-master, who was charged with that duty, and who was 
never, known to laugh ; “ the captain will remember we came 
into port under the drapeau of Monsieur Jean Bull.” 


86 


WING-AND-WING, 


“ Bien — hoist the chapeau of Monsieur Jean Bull again. We 
must brazen it out, now we have put on the mask. Monsieur 
Lieutenant, clap on the hawser, and run the lugger ahead, over 
her anchor, and see everything clear for spreading our pocket- 
handkerchiefs. No one knows when le Feu-Follet may have 
occasion to wipe her face. Ah ! — now, Etooell, we can make 
out his broadside fairly, he is heading more to the westward.” 

The two seamen levelled their glasses, and renewed their 
examinations. Ithuel had a peculiarity that not only charac- 
terized the man, but which is so common among Americans of 
his class, as in a sense to be national. On ordinary occasions 
he was talkative, and disposed to gossip ; but, whenever action 
and decision became necessary, he was thoughtful, silent, and, 
though in a way of his own, even dignified. This last fit was 
on him, and he waited for Raoul to lead the conversation. The 
other, however, was disposed to be as reserved as himself, for he 
quitted the knight-head, and took refuge from the splashing of 
the water, used in washing the decks, in his own cabin. 

Two hours, though they brought the sun, with the activity 
and hum of the morning, had made no great change in the 
relative positions of things within and without the bay. The 
people of le Feu-Follet had breakfasted, had got everything on 
board their little craft in its proper place, and were moody, 
observant, and silent. One of the lessons that Ithuel had 
succeeded in teaching his shipmates, was to impress on them 
the necessity of commanding their voluble propensities, if they 
would wish to pass for Englishmen. It is certain, more words 
would have been uttered, in this little lugger, in one hour, had 
her crew been indulged to the top of their bent, than would 
have been uttered in an English first -rate, in two ; but the 
danger of using their own language, and the English peculiarity 
of grumness, had been so thoroughly taught them, that her 
people rather caricatured, than otherwise, ce grand talent pour 
le silence , that was thought to distinguish their enemies. Ithuel, 
who had a waggery of his own, smiled as he saw the seamen 
folding their arms, throwing discontent and surliness into their 


WING-AND-WING. 


81 


9 


countenances, and pacing the deck singly, as if misanthropical 
and disdaining to converse, whenever a boat came alongside 
from the shore. Several of these visitors arrived, in the course 
of the two hours mentioned ; but the sentinel at the gangway, 
who had his orders, repulsed every attempt to come on board, 
pretending not to understand French, when permission was 
asked in that language. 

Raoul had a boat’s crew of four, all of whom had acquired 
the English, like himself, in a prison-ship, and with these men 
he now prepared to land ; for, as yet, he had made little 
progress in the business which brought him into his present 
awkward predicament, and he was not a man to abandon 
an object so dear to him, lightly. Finding himself in a dilemma, 
he was resolved to make an effort to reap, if possible, some 
advantage from his critical situation. Accordingly, after he had 
taken his coffee, and given his orders, the boat’s crew was called, 
and he left the lugger’s side. All this was done tranquilly, as 
if the appearance of the stranger in the offing gave no trouble to 
any in le Feu-Follet. 

On this occasion the boat pulled boldly into the little harbor, 
its officer touching the shore at the common landing. Nor 
were the men in any haste to return. They lounged about the 
quay, in waiting for their captain, cheapening fruits, chatting 
with the women in such Italian as they could muster, and 
affecting to understand the French of the old sea-dogs that drew 
near them, all of whom knew more or less of that universal lan- 
guage, with difficulty. That they were the objects of suspicion, 
their captain had sufficiently warned them, and practice rendered 
them all good actors. The time they remained in waiting for 
Raoul, was consequently spent in eluding attempts to induce 
them to betray themselves, and in caricaturing Englishmen. 
Two of the four folded their arms, endeavored to look surly, and 
paced the quay in silence, refusing even to unbend to the blan- 
dishments of the gentler sex, three or four of whom endeavored 
to insinuate themselves into their confidence, by offerings of 
fruit and flowers. 


88 


W I N G - A N D - W I N G . 


“ Amico,” said Annunziate, one of the prettiest girls of her 
class in Porto Ferrajo, and who had been expressly employed by 
Vito Yiti to perform this office, “ here are tigs from the main 
land. Will you please to eat a few, that when you go back to 
Inghilterra, you may tell your countrymen how we poor Elbans 
live ?” 

“ Bad fig” — sputtered Jacques, Raoul’s cockswain, to whom 
this offering was made, and speaking in broken English ; “ better 
at ’ome. Pick up better in ze street of Portsmout’ !” 

“ But, Signore, you need not look as if they would hurt you, 
or bite you ; you can eat them, and, take my word for it, you 
will find them as pleasant as the melons of Napoli !” 

u No melon good but English melon. English melon plenty 
as pomme de terres — bah !” 

“ Yes, Signore, as the melons of Napoli,” continued Annun- 
ziate, who did not understand a syllable of the ungracious 
answers she received ; “ Signor Vito Yiti, our podestci , ordered 
me to offer these figs to the forestieri — the Inglesi, who are in 
the bay — ” 

“ God-dam,” returned Jacques, in a quick, sententious man- 
mer, that was intended to get rid of the fair tormentor, and 
which, temporarily at least, was not without its effect. 

But, leaving the boat’s crew to be badgered in this manner, 
until relief came, as will be hereafter related, we must follow our 
hero in his way through the streets of the town. Raoul, guided 
by an instinct, or having some special object before his eyes, 
walked swiftly up the heights, ascending to the promontory, so 
often mentioned. As he passed, every eye was turned on him, 
for, by this time, the distrust in the place was general ; and the 
sudden appearance of a frigate, wearing a French ensign, before 
the port, had given rise to apprehensions of a much more serious 
nature than any which could possibly attend the arrival of 
a craft as light as the lugger, by herself. Yito Yiti had long 
before gone up the street, to see the vice-governatore ; and eight 
or ten of the principal men of the place had been summoned to 
a council, including the two senior military dignitaries of 


WING-AND-WING. 


89 


the island. The batteries, it was known, were manned ; and 
although it would have puzzled the acutest mind of Elba to 
give a reason why the French should risk so unprofitable an 
attack as one on their principal port, long ere Raoul was seen 
among them such a result was not only dreaded, but in a mea- 
sure anticipated with confidence. As a matter of course, then, 
every eye followed his movements as he went with bounding 
steps up the narrow terraces of the steep street, and the least of 
his actions was subjected to the narrowest and most jealous 
scrutiny. 

The heights were again thronged with spectators of all ages 
and classes, and of both sexes. The mantles and flowing 
dresses of females prevailed as usual ; for whatever is connected 
with curiosity is certain to collect an undue proportion of a sex 
whose imaginations are so apt to get the start of their judg- 
ments. On a terrace, in front of the palace, as it was the cus- 
tom to designate the dwelling of the governor, was the group 
of magnates, all of them paying the gravest attention to the 
smallest change in the direction of the ship, which had now 
become an object of general solicitude and apprehension. So 
intent, indeed, were they in gazing at this apprehended enemy, 
that Raoul stood in front of Andrea Barrofaldi, cap in hand, 
and bowing his salutation, before his approach was even antici- 
pated. This sudden and unannounced arrival created great 
surprise, and some little confusion ; one or two of the group 
turning away instinctively, as it might be, to conceal the flushes 
that mounted to their cheeks at being so unexpectedly confronted 
by the very man, whom the minute before they had been 
strongly denouncing. 

“ Bon giorno , Signor Vice-go vernatore,” commenced Raoul, 
in his gay, easy, and courteous manner, and certainly with an 
air that betrayed any feeling but those of apprehension and 
guilt : “ we have a fine morning on the land, here ; and 
apparently a fine frigate of the French republic in the offing 
yonder.” 

“ We were conversing of that vessel, Signor Smees,” 


90 


WING-AND-WING. 


answered Andrea, “ as you approached. What, in your judg- 
ment, can induce a Frenchman to appear before our town in so 
menacing a manner ?” 

“ Cospetto ! you might as well ask me, Signore, what induces 
these republicans to do a thousand other out-of-the-way things. 
What has made them behead Louis XVI. ? What has 
made them overrun half of your Italy, conquer Egypt, and 
drive the Austrians back upon their Danube ?” 

“ To say nothing of their letting Nelsoni destroy them at 
Aboukir,” added Vito Viti, with a grunt. 

“ True, Signore, or letting Nelson, my gallant countryman, 
annihilate them near the mouth of the Nile. I did not consider 
it proper to boast of English glory, though that case, too, may 
very well be included. We have several men in ze Ving-And- 
Ving v 7 ho were in that glorious battle, particularly our sailing- 
master, Etooell Bolt, who was on board Nelson’s own ship, hav- 
ing been accidentally sent on service from the frigate to 
which he properly belonged, and carried off expressly to share, 
as it might be, in the glory of this famous battle.” 

“ I have seen the Signore,” drily remarked Andrea Barrofaldi 
— “ £ uno Americano ? 

“ An American !” exclaimed Raoul, starting a little in spite 
of his assumed indifference of manner ; “ why, yes, I believe 
Bolt was born in America — English America, you know, Sig- 
nori, and that is much the same thing as having been born 
in England herself. We look upon ze Yankes as but a part 
of our own people, and take them into our service most cheer- 
fully.” 

“ So the Signor Ituello has given us reason to believe ; he is 
seemingly a great lover of the English nation.” 

Rajoul was uneasy ; for he w r as entirely ignorant of all that 
had passed in the wine-house, and he thought he detected irony 
in the manner of the vice-go vernatore. 

“ Certainly, Signore,” he answered, however, with unmoved 
steadiness ; “ certainly, Signore, the Americani adore Inghil- 
terra ; and well they may, considering all that great nation has 


WIN G-AND-WIN6, 


91 


* 

done for them. But, Signor Vice-governatore, I have come to 
offer you the service of my lugger, should this Frenchman 
really intend mischief. We are small, it is true, and our guns 
are hut light ; nevertheless we may break the frigate’s cabin- 
windows, while you are doing him still greater injury from these 
heights. I trust you will assign ze Ving-And-Ving some honor- 
able station, should you come to blows with the republicans.” 

“ And what particular service would it be most agreeable to 
you to undertake, Signore ?” inquired the vice-governatore, with 
considerate courtesy ; “ we are no mariners, and must leave the 
choice to yourself. The colonello here, expects some firing, and 
has his artillerists already at their guns.” 

“ The preparation of Porto Ferrajo is celebrated among the 
mariners of the Mediterranean, and, should the Frenchman 
venture within reach of your shot, I expect to see him unrigged 
faster than if he w T ere in a dock-yard. As for ze leetl’ Ving- 
And-Ving, in my opinion, while the frigate is busy with these 
batteries, it might be well for us to steer along the shore on the 
east side of the bay until we can get outside of her, when we 
shall have the beggars between two fires. That was just what 
Nelson did at Aboukir, Signor Podesta, a battle you seem so 
much to admire.” 

“ That would be a manoeuvre worthy of a follower of 
Nelsoni, Signore,” observed the colonel, “ if the metal of your 
guns were heavier. With short pieces of twelve, however, you 
would hardly venture within reach of long pieces of eighteen ; 
although the first should be manned by Inglese, and the last by 
Fran^ese ?” 

“ One never knows. At the Nile one of our fifties laid the 
Orient, a three-decker, athwart-hawse, and did her lots of 
injury. The vaisseau, in fact, was blown up. Naval combats 
are decided on principles altogether different from engagements 
on the land, Signor Colonello.” 

“ It must be so, truly,” answered the soldier ; “ but what 
means this movement ? you, as a seaman, may be able to tell 
us, Capitano.” 


92 


WING-AND-WING. 


This drew all eyes to the frigate again, where, indeed, were 
movements that indicated some important changes. As these 
movements have an intimate connexion with the incidents of the 
tale, it will be necessary to relate them in a manner to render 
them more intelligible to the reader. 

The distance of the frigate from the town might now have been 
five English miles. Of current there was none ; and there being 
no tides in the Mediterranean, the ship would have lain per- 
fectly stationary all the morning, but for a very light air 
from the southward. Before this air, however, she had moved 
to the westward about a couple of miles, until she had got the 
government-house nearly abeam. At the same time she had 
been obliquely drawing nearer, which was the circumstance that 
produced the alarm. With the sun had risen the wind, and a 
few minutes before the colonel interrupted himself in the man- 
ner related, the topsails of the stranger had swelled, and he 
began to move through the water at the rate of some four or 
five knots the hour. The moment her people felt that they had 
complete command of their vessel, as if waiting only for that 
assurance, they altered her course, and made sail. Putting her 
helm a-starboard, the ship came close by the wind, with her 
head looking directly in for the promontory, while her tacks 
were hauled on board, and her light canvas aloft was loosened 
and spread to the breeze. Almost at the same instant, for 
everything seemed to be done at once, and as Jby instinct, the 
French flag was lowered, another went up in its place, and a 
gun was fired to leeward — a signal of amity. As this second 
emblem of nationality blew out, and opened to the breeze, the 
glasses showed the white field and St. George’s cross of the 
noble old ensign of England. 

An exclamation of surprise and delight escaped the specta- 
tors on the promontory, as their doubts and apprehensions were 
thus dramatically relieved. No one thought of Raoul at that 
happy moment, though to him there was nothing of new inter- 
est in the affair, with the exception of the apparent intention 
of the stranger to enter the bay. As le Feu-Follet lay in plain 


WING-AND-WING. 


93 


view from the offing, he had his doubts, indeed, whether the 
warlike appearance of that craft was not the true reason of this 
sudden change in the frigate’s course. Still, lying as he did in 
a port hostile to France, there was a probability that he might 
yet escape without a very critical or close examination. 

“ Signor Smees, I felicitate you on this visit of a country- 
man,” cried Andrea Barrofaldi, a pacific man by nature, and 
certainly no warrior, and who felt too happy at the prospects of 
passing a quiet day, to feel distrust at such a moment ; “I shall 
do you honor in my communications with Florence, for the spirit 
and willingness which you have shoAvn in the wish to aid us on 
this trying occasion.” 

“ Signor Vice-go vernatore, do not trouble yourself to dwell on 
my poor services,” answered Raoul, scarce caring to conceal the 
smile that struggled about his handsome mouth ; “ think rather 
of those of these gallant signori, who greatly regret that an 
opportunity for gaining distinction has been lost. But here are 
signals that must be meant for us — I hope my stupid fellows 
will be able to answer them in my absence.” 

It was fortunate for le Feu-Follet, perhaps, that her command- 
er was not on board, when the stranger, the Proserpine, the 
very ship that Ithuel so well knew, made her number. The 
mystification that was to follow was in much better hands, while 
conducted by the New Hampshire man, than it could possibly 
be in his own. Ithuel answered promptly, though what, he did 
not know himself; but he took good care that the flags he 
showed should become so entangled, as not to be read by those 
in the frigate, while they had every appearance of being hoisted 
fearlessly and in good faith. 




94 


WING-AND-WING. 


CHAPTER VI. 


“ Are all prepared ? 

They are— nay more — embarked , the latest boat 
Waits but my chief— 

My sword and my capote.” 

The Corsair. 


What success attended the artifice of Ithuel it was impos- 
sible to tell, so far as the frigate was concerned ; though the 
appearance of mutual intelligence between the two vessels had 
a very favorable tendency towards removing suspicion from the 
lugger among those on shore. It seemed so utterly improbable 
that a French corsair could answer the signals of an English 
frigate, that even Vito Viti felt compelled to acknowledge to the 
vice-governatore in a whisper, that, so far, the circumstance was 
much in favor of the lugger’s loyalty. Then the calm exterior 
of Raoul counted for something, more especially as he remained 
apparently an unconcerned observer of the rapid approach of 
the ship. 

“ We shall not have occasion to use your gallant offer, Signor 
Smees,” said Andrea kindlv, as he was about to retire into the 
house with one or two of his counsellors ; “ but we thank you 
none the less. It is a happiness to be honored with the visit of 
two cruisers of your great nation on the same day, and I hope 
you will so far favor me as to accompany your brother com- 
mander, when he shall do me the honor to pay the customary 
visit, since it would seem to be his serious intention to pay 
Porto Ferrajo the compliment of a call. Can you not guess at 
the name of the frigate ?” 

“ Now I see she is a countryman, I think I can, Signore,” 
answered Raoul carelessly ; “ I take her to be la Proserpine, a 


WIN G-AND- WING. 


95 


French-built ship, a circumstance that first deceived me as to her 
character ?” 

“ And the noble cavaliere, her commander — you doubtless 
know his name and rank ?” 

“ Oh ! perfectly ; he is the son of an old admiral, under 
whom I was educated, though we happen ourselves never to 
have met. Sir Brown is the name and title of the gentle- 
man.” 

“ Ah ! that is a truly English rank, and name, too, as one 
might say. Often have I met that honorable appellation in 
Shakspeare, and other of your eminent authors. Miltoni has a 
Sir Brown, if I am not mistaken, Signore ?” 

“ Several of them, Signor Vice-governatore,” answered Raoul, 
without a moment’s hesitation or the smallest remorse ; though 
he had no idea whatever who Milton was ; “ Milton, Shak- 
speare, Cicero, and all our great writers, often mention Signori 
of this family.” 

“ Cicero !” repeated Andrea, in astonishment — “ he was a 
Roman, and an ancient, Capitano, and died before Inghilterra 
was known to the civilized world.” 

Raoul perceived that he had reached too far, though he was 
not in absolute danger of losing his balance. Smiling, as in 
consideration of .the other’s provincial view of things, he rejoined, 
with an a-plomb that would have done credit to a politician, in 
an explanatory and half-apologetic tone. 

“ Quite true, Signor Vice-governatore, as respects him you 
mention,” he said ; “ but not true as respects Sir Cicero, my 
illustrious compatriot. Let me see — I do not think it is yet a 
century since our Cicero died. He was born in Devonshire” — 
this was the county in which Raoul had been imprisoned — u and 
must have died in Dublin. Si — now I remember, it was in 
Dublin, that this virtuous and distinguished author yielded up 
his breath.” 

To all this Andrea had nothing to say, for, half a centuiy 
since, so great was the ignorance of civilized nations, as related 
to such things, that one might have engrafted a Homer on the 


96 


WING-AND-WING. 


literature of England, in particular, without much risk of having 
the imposition detected. Signor Barrofaldi was not pleased to 
find that the barbarians were seizing on the Italian names, it is 
true ; but he was fain to set the circumstance down to those 
very traces of barbarism which were the unavoidable fruits of 
their origin. As for supposing it possible that one v T ho spoke 
with the ease and innocence of Raoul, was inventing as he went 
along, it was an idea he was himself much too unpractised to 
entertain ; and the very first thing he did, on entering the palace, 
was to make a memorandum which might lead him, at a leisure 
moment, to inquire into the nature of the writings, and the general 
merits of Sir Cicero, the illustrious namesake of him of Rome. As 
soon as this little digression terminated, he entered the palace, after 
again expressing the hope that “ Sir Smees ” would not fail to 
accompany “ Sir Brown,*’ in the visit which the functionary 
fully expected to receive from the latter, in the course of the 
next hour or two. The company now began to disperse, and 
Raoul v r as soon left to his own meditations ; which, just at that 
moment, were anything but agreeable. 

The town of Porto Ferrajo is so shut in from the sea by the 
rock against which it is built, its fortifications, and the construc- 
tion of its ow r n little port, as to render the approach of a vessel 
invisible to its inhabitants, unless they choose to ascend to the 
heights, and the narrow promenade already mentioned. This 
circumstance had drawn a large crowd upon the hill again; 
among which Raoul Yvard now threaded his way, wearing his 
sea cap, and his assumed naval uniform, in a smart, affected 
manner, for he was fully sensible of all the advantages he 
possessed on the score of personal appearance. His unsettled 
eye, however, wandered from one pretty face to another, in quest 
of Ghita, who alone was the object of his search, and the true 
cause of the awkward predicament into which he had brought not 
only himself, but le Feu-Follet. In this manner, now thinking 
of her he sought, and then reverting to his situation in an 
enemy’s port, he walked along the whole line of the cliff, scarce 
knowing whether to return, or to seek his boat, by doubling on 


WING-AND-WING. 


91 

the town, when he heard his own name pronounced in a sweet 
voice, which went directly to his heart. Turning on his heel, 
Gliita was within a few' feet of him. 

“ Salute me distantly, and as a stranger,” said the girl, in 
almost breathless haste, “ and point to the different streets, as if 
inquiring your way through the town. This is the place where 
we met last evening ; but, remember, it is no longer dark.” 

As Raoul complied with her desire, any distant spectator 
might v r ell have fancied the meeting accidental, though he 
poured forth a flood of expressions of love and admiration. 

“ Enough, Raoul,” said the girl blushing, and dropping her 
eyes, though no displeasure was visible on her serene and placid 
face, “ another time I might indulge you. How much worse is 
your situation now than it was last night ! Then you had only 
the port to fear ; now you have both the people of the port and 
this strange ship — an Inglese, as they tell me ?” 

“No doubt — la Proserpine, Etooell says, and he knows ; you 
remember Etooell, dearest Ghita, the American who was with 
me at the tower — well, he has served in this very ship, and 
knows her to be la Proserpine, of forty-four.” Raoul paused a 
moment; then he added, laughing in a way to surprise his 
companion — “ Qui — la Proserpine, le Capitaine Sir Brown !” 

“ What you can find to amuse you in all this, Raoul, is more 
than I can discover. Sir Brown, or sir anybody else, will send 
you again to those evil English prison-ships, of which you have 
so often told me ; and there is surely nothing pleasant in that 
idea.” 

“ Bah ! my sweet Ghita, Sir Brown, or Sir White, or Sir 
Black, has not yet got me. I am not a child, to tumble into 
the fire because the leading-strings are off; and le Feu-Follet 
shines, or goes out, exactly as it suits her purposes. The frigate, 
ten to one, will just run close in, and take a near look, and then 
square away and go to Livorno, where there is much more to 
amuse her officers, than here in Porto Ferrajo. This Sir Brown 
has his Ghita, as well as Raoul Yvard.” 

“ No, not a Ghita, I fear, Raou},” answered the girl smiling, 


98 


WING-AND-WING. 


spite of herself, while her color almost insensibly deepened — 
“ Livorno has few ignorant country girls, like me, who have 
been educated in a lone watch-tower on the coast.” 

“ Ghita,” - answered Raoul, with feeling, “ that poor lone 
watch-tower of thine might well be envied by many a noble 
dame at Roma and at Napoli ; it has left thee innocent and 
pure — a gem that gay capitals seldom contain ; or, if found 
there, not in its native beauty, which they sully by use.” 

“What know’st thou, Raoul, of Roma and Napoli, and of 
noble dames and rich gems ?” asked the girl, smiling, the 
tenderness which had tilled her heart at that moment betraying 
itself in her eyes. 

“ What do I know of such things, truly ! why, I have been 
at both places, and have seen what I describe. I -went to Roma 
on purpose to see the Holy Father, in order to make certain 
whether our French opinions of his character and infallibility 
were true, or not, before I set up in religion for myself.” 

“And thou didst find him holy and venerable, Raoul,” 
interposed the girl, with earnestness and energy, for this was 
the great point of separation between them — “I know thou 
found’st him thus, and worthy to be the head of an ancient and 
true church. My eyes never beheld him ; but this do I know 
to be true.” 

Raoul was aware that the laxity of his religious opinions, 
opinions that he may be said to have inherited from his country, 
as it then existed morally, alone prevented Gliita from casting 
aside all other ties, and following his fortunes, in weal and in 
woe. Still he was too frank and generous to deceive, while he 
had ever been too considerate to strive to unsettle her confiding 1 
and consoling faith. Her infirmity even, for so he deemed her 
notions to be, had a charm in his eyes ; few men, however 
loose or sceptical in their own opinions on such matters, finding 
any pleasure in the contemplation of a female infidel ; and he 
had never looked more fondly into her anxious but lovely face, 
than he did at this very instant, making his reply with a truth 
that bordered on magnanimity. 


WING-AND-WING. 


99 


“ Thou art my religion, Ghita !” he said ; “ in thee I worship 
purity, and holiness, and — ” 

“ Nay — nay, Raoul, do not — refrain — if thou really lov’st me, 
utter not this frightful blasphemy; tell me, rather, if thou 
didst not find the holy father as I describe him ?” 

“ I found him a peaceful, venerable, and, I firmly believe, a 
good old man, Ghita ; but only a man. No infallibility could 
I see about him ; but a set of roguish cardinals, and other 
plotters of mischief, who were much better calculated to set 
Christians by the ears than to lead them to Heaven, surrounded 
his chair.” 

“Say no more, Raoul — I will listen to no more of this. 
Thou knowest not these sainted men, and thy tongue is thine 
own enemy, without — hark ! what means that ?” 

“ ’Tis a gun from the frigate, and must be looked to ; say, 
when and where do we meet again ?” 

“ I know not, now. We have been too long, much too long, 
together, as it is ; and must separate. Trust to me to provide 
the means of another meeting ; at all events, ive shall shortly 
be in our tower again.” 

Ghita glided away as she ceased speaking, and soon disap- 
peared in the town. As for Raoul, he was at a loss for a 
moment whether to follow or not ; then he hastened to the 
terrace in front of the government-house again, in order to 
ascertain the meaning of the gun. The report had drawn 
others to the same place, and on reaching it, the young man 
found himself in another crowd. 

By this time the Proserpine, for Ithuel w r as right as to the 
name of the stranger, had got within a league of the entrance 
of the bay, and had gone about, stretching over to its eastern 
shore, apparently with the intention to fetch fairly into it on 
the next track. The smoke of her gun was sailing off to 
leeward, in a little cloud, and signals were again flying at her 
main-royal-mast-head. All this w T as very intelligible to Raoul, 
it being evident at a glance that the frigate had reached in 
nearer both to look at the warlike lugger that she saw in the 


* 

» 


100 


WING-AND-WING. 


bay, and to communicate more clearly with her by signals. 
Ithuel’s expedient had not sufficed ; the vigilant Captain Cuffe, 
alias Sir Brown, who commanded the Proserpine, not being a 
man likely to be mystified by so stale a trick. Raoul scarcely 
breathed, as he watched the lugger, in anticipation of her 
course. 

Ithuel certainly seemed in no hurry to commit himself, for the 
signal had now been flying on board the frigate several minutes, 
and yet no symptoms of any preparation for an answer could be 
discovered. At length the halyards moved, and then three fair, 
handsome flags rose to the end of le Feu-Follet’s jigger yard, a 
spar that was always kept aloft in moderate weather. What 
the signal meant Raoul did not know, for though he was 
provided with signals by means of which to communicate with 
the vessels of war of his own nation, the Directory had not been 
able to supply him with those necessary to communicate wfith 
the enemy. Ithuel’s ingenuity, however, had supplied the 
deficiency. While serving on board the Proserpine, the very 
ship that was now menacing the lugger, he had seen a meeting 
between her and a privateer English lugger, one of the two or 
three of that rig which sailed out of England, and his observant 
eye had noted the flags she had shown on the occasion. Now 
as privateersmen are not expected to be expert, or even very 
accurate, in the use of signals, he had ventured to show these 
very numbers, let it prove for better or worse. Had he been on 
the quarter-deck of the frigate, he would have ascertained, 
through the benedictions bestowed by Captain Cuffe, that his 
ruse had so far succeeded as to cause that officer to attribute his 
unintelligible answer to ignorance, rather than to design. Never- 
theless, the frigate did not seem disposed to alter her course ; 
for, either influenced by a desire to anchor, or by a determina- 
tion to take a still closer look at the lugger, she stood on, near- 
ing the eastern side of the bay, at the rate of some six miles to 
the hour. 

Raoul Yvard now thought it time to look to the safety 
of le Feu-Follet in person. Previously to landing he had given 


l 


WING-AND-WIN6, 


101 


instructions as to what was to be done in the event of the 
frigate’s coming close in ; hut matters now seemed so very 
serious, that he hurried down the hill, overtaking Vito Viti 
in his way, who was repairing to the harbor to give instructions 
to certain boatmen concerning the manner in which the quarantine 
laws were to be regarded, in an intercourse with a British frigate. 

“ You ought to be infinitely happy at the prospect of meeting 
an honorable countryman in this Sir Brown,” observed the short- 
winded podesta, who usually put himself out of breath both in 
ascending and descending the steep street, “ for he really seems 
determined to anchor in our bay, Signor Smees ” 

“ To tell you the truth, Signor Podesta, I wish I was half as 
well persuaded that it is Sir Brown, and la Proserpine, as I was 
an hour ago. I see symptoms of its being a republican, after 
all, and must have a care for ze Ving-And-Ving .” 

“ The devil carry away all republicans, is my humble prayer, 
Signor Capitano ; but I can hardly believe that so graceful and 
gracious-looking a frigate can possibly belong to such wretches.” 
“ Ah ! Signore, if that were all, I fear we should have to 
yield the palm to the French,” answered Paoul, laughing ; “ for 
the best-looking craft in His Majesty’s service are republican 
prizes. Even should this frigate turn out to be the Proserpine 
herself, she can claim no better origin. But I think the vice- 
governatore has not done well in deserting the batteries, since 
this stranger does not answer our signals as she should. The 
last communication has proved quite unintelligible to him.” 
Raoul was nearer to the truth than he imagined, perhaps, for 
certainly Ithuel’s numbers had made nonsense, according to the 
signal book of the Proserpine ; but his confident manner had an 
effect on Vito Viti, who was duped by his seeming earnestness, 
as well as by a circumstance which, rightly considered, told as 
much against, as it did in favor of his companion. 

“ And what is to be done, Signore ?” demanded the podesta, 
stopping short in the street. 

“ We must do as Avell as we can, under the circumstances. 
My duty is to look out for ze Ving-And-Ving, and yours to look 


102 


WING-AND-WING. 


out for the town. Should the stranger actually enter the bay, 
and bring his broadside to bear on this steep hill, there is not a 
chamber window that will not open on the muzzles of his guns. 
You will grant me permission to haul into the inner harbor, 
where we shall be sheltered by the buildings from his shot, and 
then, perhaps, it will be well enough to send my people into the 
nearest battery. I look for bloodshed and confusion ere long.” 

All this was said with so much apparent sincerity, that .it 
added to the podesta’s mystification. Calling a neighbor to 
him, he sent the latter up the hill, with a message to Andrea 
Barrofaldi, and then he hurried down towards the port, it 
being much easier for him, just at that moment, to descend, than 
to ascend. Raoul kept at his side, and together they reached 
the water’s edo'e. 

o 

The podesta was greatly addicted to giving utterance to any 
predominant opinion of the moment, being one of those persons 
who feel quite as much as they think. On the present occasion 
he did not spare the frigate, for, having caught at the bait that 
his companion had so artfully thrown out to him, he was loud 
in the expression of his distrust. All the signalling and show- 
ing of colors, he now believed to be a republican trick ; and 
precisely in proportion as he became resentful of the supposed 
fraud of the ship, was he disposed to confide blindly in the 
honesty of the lugger. This was a change of sentiment in the 
magistrate ; and, as in the case of all sudden but late conver- 
sions, he was in a humor to compensate for his tardiness by the 
excess of his zeal. In consequence of this disposition, and the 
character and loquacity of the man, all aided by a few timely 
suggestions on the part of Raoul, in five minutes it came to be 
generally understood that the frigate was greatly to be distrusted, 
while the lugger rose in public favor exactly in the degree in 
which the other fell. This interposition of Vito Yiti’s was 
exceedingly apropos, so far as le Feu-Follet and her people were 
concerned, inasmuch as the examination of, and intercourse with, 
the boat’s crew, had rather left the impression of their want of 
nationality in a legal sense, than otherwise. In a word, had 


WING-AND-WING. 


103 


not the podesta so loudly and so actively proclaimed the contrary, 
Tommaso and his fellows were about to report their convictions 
that these men were all bona fide wolves in sheep’s clothing — 
alias Frenchmen. 

“No, no — amici miei,” said Vito Viti, bustling about on the 
narrow little quay, “ all is not gold that glitters, of a certainty ; 
and this frigate is probably no ally, but an enemy. A very 
different matter is it with ze Ving-y-Ving and II Signor Smees 
— we may be said to know him — have seen his papers, and the 
vice-governatore and myself have examined him, as it might be, 
on the history and laws of his island, for England is an island, 
neighbors, as well as Elba ; another reason for respect and amity 
— but we have gone over much of the literature and history of 
Inghilterra together, and find everything satisfactory and right ; 
therefore are we bound to show the lugger protection and love.” 

“ Most true, Signor Podesta,” answered Raoul, from his boat ; 
“ and such being the case, I hasten to haul my vessel into the 
mouth of your basin, which I will defend against boats, or any 
attempt of these rascally republicans to land.” 

Waving his hand, the young sailor pulled quickly out of the 
crowded little port, followed by a hundred vivas. Raoul now 
saw that his orders had not been neglected. A small line had 
been run out from the lugger, and fastened to a ring in the 
inner end of the eastern side of the narrow haven, apparently 
with the intention of hauling; the vessel into the harbor itself. 
He also perceived that the light anchor, or large kedge, by 
which le Feu-Follet rode, was under foot, as seamen term it; 
or that the cable was nearly “ up and down.” With a wave of 
the hand he communicated a new order, and then he saw that the 
men were raising the kedge from the bottom. By the time his 
foot touched the deck, indeed, the anchor was up and stowed, 
and nothing held the vessel but the line that had been run to 
the quay. Fifty pairs of hands were applied to this line, and 
the lugger advanced rapidly towards her place of shelter. But 
an artifice was practised to prevent her heading into the harbor’s 
mouth, the line having been brought inboard abaft her larboard 


104 


WING-AND-WINO. 


cathead, a circumstance which necessarily gave her a sheer in 
the contrary direction, or to the eastward of the entrance. When 
the reader remembers that the scale on which the port had been 
constructed was small, the entrance scarce exceeding a hundred 
feet in width, he will better understand the situation of things. 
Seemingly to aid the movement, too, the jigger was set, and the 
wind being south, or directly aft, the lugger’s motion was soon 
light and rapid. As the vessel drew nearer to the entrance, her 
people made a run with the line, and gave her a movement of 
some three or four knots to the hour, actually threatening to dash 
her bows against the pier-head. But Raoul Yvard contemplated 
no such blunder. At the proper moment, the line was cut, the 
helm was put a-port, the lugger’s head sheered to starboard, and 
just as Vito Viti, who witnessed all without comprehending 
more than half that passed, was shouting his vivas, and animat- 
ing all near him with his cries, the lugger glided past the end 
of the harbor, on its outside, however, instead of entering it. 
So completely was every one taken by surprise by this evolution, 
that the first impression was of some mistake, accident, or blun- 
der of the helmsman, and cries of regret followed, lest the 
frigate might have it in her power to profit by the mishap. The 
flapping of canvas, notwithstanding, show T ed that no time was 
lost, and presently le Feu-Follet shot by an opening between the 
warehouses, under all sail. At this critical instant, the frigate, 
which saw what passed, but which had been deceived like all 
the rest, and supposed the lugger was hauling into the haven, 

tacked and came round with her head to the westward. But 

^ * 

intending to fetch well into the bay, she had stretched so far 
over towards the eastern shore, as, by this time, to be quite two 
miles distant ; and as the lugger rounded the promontory close 
under its rocks, to avoid the shot of the batteries above, she 
left, in less than five minutes, her enemy that space directly 
astern. Nor was this all. It would have been dangerous to 
fire as well as useless, on account of the range, since the lugger 
lay nearly in a line between her enemy’s chase guns and the resi- 
dence of the vice-governatore. It only remained, therefore, for 


WING-AND-WING. 


105 


the frigate to commence what is proverbially “ a long chase,” 
viz. “ a stern chase.” 

All that has just been related may have occupied ten minutes ; 
but the news reached Andrea Barrofaldi and his counsellors 
soon enough to allow them to appear on the promontory, in 
time to see the Ving-y-Ving pass close under the cliffs beneath 
them, still keeping her English colors flying. Raoul was visible, 
trumpet in hand ; but as the wind was light, his powerful voice 
sufficed to tell his story. 

“ Signori,” he shouted, “ I will lead the rascally republican 
away from your port, in chase ; that will be the most effectual 
mode of doing you a service.” 

These words were heard and understood, and a murmur of 
applause followed from some, while others thought the whole 
affair mysterious and questionable. There was no time to inter- 
pose by acts, had such a course been contemplated, the lugger 
keeping too close in to be exposed to shot, and there being, as 
yet, no new preparations in the batteries to meet an enemy. 
Then there were the doubts as to the proper party to assail, and 
all passed too rapidly to admit of consultation or preconcert. 

The movement of le Feu-Follet was so easy, as to partake of 
the character of instinct. Her light sails were fully distended, 
though the breeze was far from fresh ; and, as she rose and 
fell on the long ground-swells, her wedge-like bows caused the 
water to ripple before them like a swift current meeting a 
sharp obstacle in the stream. It was only as she sank into the 
water, in stemming a swell, that anything like foam could be 
seen under her fore-foot. A long line of swift-receding bubbles, 
however, marked her track, and she no sooner came abreast of 
any given group of spectators, than she was past it — resembling 
the progress of a porpoise as he sports along a harbor. 

Ten minutes after passing the palace, or the pitch of the pro- 
montory, the lugger opened another bay, one wider and almost 
as deep as that on which Porto Ferrajo stands, and here she 
took the breeze without the intervention of any neighboring 
rocks, and her speed was essentially increased. Hitherto, her 

5 * 


106 


WIN G - A N D - WING. 


close proximity to the shore had partially becalmed her, though 
the air had drawn round the promontory, making nearly a fair 
wind of it ; but now the currents came fully on her beam, and 
with much more power. She hauled down her tacks, flattened 
in her sheets, luffed, and was soon out of sight, breasting up to 
windward of a point that formed the eastern extremity of the 
bay last mentioned. 

All this time the Proserpine had not been idle. As soon as 
she discovered that the lugger was endeavoring to escape, her 
rigging was alive with men. Sail after sail was set, one white 
cloud succeeding another, until she was a sheet of canvas from 
her trucks to her bulwarks. Her lofty sails taking the breeze 
above the adjacent coast, her progress was swift, for this particu- 
lar frigate had the reputation of being one of the fastest vessels * 
in the English marine. 

It was just twenty minutes, by Andrea Barrofaldi’s watch, 
after le Feu-Follet passed the spot where he stood, when the 
Proserpine came abreast of it. Her greater draught of water 
induced her to keep half a mile from the promontory, but she 
was so near as to allow a very good opportunity to examine her 
general construction and appearance, as she went by. The 
batteries were now manned, and a consultation was held on the 
propriety of punishing a republican for daring to come so near 
a Tuscan port. But there flew the respected and dreaded 
English ensign ; and it was still a matter of doubt whether the 
stranger were friend or enemy. Nothing about the ship showed 
apprehension, and yet she was clearly chasing a craft which, 
coming from a Tuscan harbor, an Englishman would be bound 
to consider entitled to his protection rather than to his hostility. 
In a word, opinions were divided, and when that is die case, in 
matters of this nature, decision is obviously difficult. Then, if a 
Frenchman, she clearly attempted no injury to any on the 
island ; and those who possessed the power to commence a fire 
were fully aware how much the town lay exposed, and how 
little benefit might be expected from even a single broadside. 
The consequence was, that the few who were disposed to open 


WING-AND'WING, 


1CU 


on the frigate, like the two or three who had felt the same 
disposition towards the lugger, were restrained in their wishes, 
not only by the voice of superior authority, but by that of 
numbers. 

In the meanwhile the Proserpine pressed on, and in ten 
minutes more she was not only out of the range, but beyond 
the reach of shot. As she opened the bay west of the town, le 
Feu-Follet was seen from her decks, fully a league ahead, close 
on a wind, the breeze hauling round the western end of the 
island, glancing through the water at a rate that rendered 
pursuit more than doubtful. Still the ship persevered, and in 
little more than an hour from the time she had crowded sail, 
she was up with the western extremity of the hills, though more 
than a mile to leeward. Here she met the fair southern breeze, 
uninfluenced by the land, as it came through the pass between 
Corsica and Elba, and got a clear view of the work before her 
The studding-sails and royals had been taken in, twenty minutes 
earlier ; the bowlines were now all hauled, and the frigate was 
brought close upon the wind. Still the chase was evidently 
hopeless, the little Feu-Follet having everything as much to her 
mind as if she had ordered the weather expressly to show her 
powers. With her sheets flattened in until her canvas stood 
like boards, her head looked fully a point to windward of that 
of the ship, and, what was of equal importance, she even went 
to windward of the point she looked at, while the Proserpine, if 
anything, fell off a little, though but a very little, from her own 
course. Under all these differences, the lugger went through 
the water six feet to the frigate’s five, beating her in speed 
almost as much as she did in her weatherly qualities. 

The vessel to windward was not the first lugger, by fifty, that 
Captain Cuffe had assisted in chasing, and he knew the hope- 
lessness of following such a craft, under circumstances so directly 
adapted to its qualities. Then he was far from certain that he 
was pursuing an enemy at all, whatever distrust the signals may 
have excited, since she had clearly come out of a friendly port. 
Bastia, too, lay within a few hours’ run, and there was the 


108 


WING-AND-WING, 


whole of the east coast of Corsica, abounding with small bays 
and havens, in which a vessel of that size might take refuge, if 
pressed. After convincing himself, therefore, by half-an-hour’s 
further trial in open sailing under the full force of the breeze, of 
the fruitlessness of his effort, that experienced officer ordered the 
Proserpine’s helm put up, the yards squared, and he stood to 
the northward, apparently shaping his course for Leghorn, or 
the Gulf of Genoa. When the frigate made this change in her 
course, the lugger, which had tacked some time previously, was 
just becoming shut in by the western end of Elba, and she was 
soon lost to view entirely, with every prospect of her weathering 
the island altogether, without being obliged to go about again. 

It was no more than natural that such a chase should occasion 
some animation in a place as retired, and ordinarily as dull, as 
Porto Ferrajo. Several of the young idlers of the garrison 
obtained horses, and galloped up among the hills, to watch the 
result ; the mountains being pretty well intersected by bridle- 
paths, though totally without regular roads. They who remained 
in the town, as a matter of course, were not disposed to let so 
favorable a subject for discourse die away immediately, for want 
of a disposition to gossip on it. Little else was talked of, that 
day, than the menaced attack of the republican frigate, and the 
escape of the lugger. Some, indeed, still doubted, for every 
question has its two sides, and there was just enough of dissent 
to render the discussions lively, and the arguments ingenious. 
Among the disputants, Vito Viti acted a prominent part. 
Having committed himself so openly by his “ vivas,” and his 
public remarks in the port, he felt it due to his own character to 
justify all he had said, and Raoul Yvard could not have desired 
a warmer advocate than he had in the podesta. The worthy 
magistrate exaggerated the vice-governatore’s knowledge of 
English, by way of leaving no deficiency in the necessary proofs 
of the lugger’s national character. Nay, he even went so far as 
to affirm that he had comprehended a portion of the documents 
exhibited by the “ Signor Smees,” himself ; and as to “ ze 
Ving-y-Ving,” any one acquainted in the least with the geogra- 


WING-AND-WING, 


109 


P h y of the British Channel would understand that she was 
precisely the sort of craft that the semi-Gallic inhabitants of 
Guernsey and Jersey would be apt to send forth to cruise against 
the out and out Gallic inhabitants of the adjacent main. 

During all these discussions, there was one heart in Porto 
Ferrajo that was swelling with the conflicting emotions of gra- 
titude, disappointment, joy, and fear, though the tongue of its 
owner was silent. Of all of her sex in the place, Ghita alone 
had nothing to conjecture, no speculation to advance, no opinion 
to maintain, nor any wish to express. Still she listened eagerly, 
and it was not the least of her causes of satisfaction to find 
that her own hurried interviews w r ith the handsome privateers- 
man had apparently escaped observation. At length her mind 
was fully lightened of its apprehensions, leaving nothing but 
tender regrets, by the return of the horsemen from the moun- 
tains. These persons reported that the upper sails of the 
frigate were just visible in the northern board, so far as they 
could judge, even more distant than the island of Capraya, 
while the lugger had beaten up almost as far to windward as 
Pianosa, and then seemed disposed to stand over towards the 
coast of Corsica, doubtless with an intention to molest the com- 
merce of that hostile island. 


110 


WING-AND-WING. 


CHAPTER VII. 


Jnt . — “ And, indeed, sir, there are cozeners abroad ; therefore it behoves men 
to be wary.” 

Clo — “ Fear not thou, man, thou shalt lose nothing here.” 

J]iit . — “I hope so, sir, for I have about me many parcels of change.” 

Winter’s Tale. 

Such was the state of things at Porto Ferrajo, at noon, or 
about the hour when its inhabitants bethought them of their 
mid-day meal. With most, the siesta followed, though the sea 
air, with its invigorating coolness, rendered that indulgence less 
necessary to these islanders, than to most of their neighbors on 
the main. Then succeeded the reviving animation of the after- 
boon, and the return of the zephyr, or the western breeze. So 
regular, indeed, are these changes in the currents of the air 
during the summer months, that the mariner can rely with 
safety on meeting a light breeze from the southward through- 
out the morning, a calm at noon — the siesta of the Mediterra- 
nean — and the delightfully cool wind from the west, after three 
or four o’clock ; this last is again succeeded, at night, by a 
breeze directly from the land. Weeks at a time have we known 
this order of things to be uninterrupted ; and when the changes 
did occasionally occur, it was only in the slight episodes of 
showers and thunder-storms, of which, however, Italy has far 
fewer than our own coast. 

Such, then, was the state of Porto Ferrajo, towards the eve- 
ning that succeeded this day of bustle and excitement. The 
zephyr again prevailed — the idle once more issued forth for 
their sunset walk — and the gossips were collecting to renew 
their conjectures, and to start some new point in their already 


WING-AND-WING. 


Ill 


exhausted discussions, when a rumor spread through the place, 
like fire communicated to a train, that u ze Ving-y-Ving” was 
once more coming down on the weather side of the island, pre- 
cisely as she had approached on the previous evening, with the 
confidence of a friend, and the celerity of a bird. Years had 
passed since such a tumult was awakened in the capital of Elba. 
Men, women, and children, poured from the houses, and were 
seen climbing the streets, all hastening to the promenade, as if 
themselves with their own eyes of the existence of 
some miracle. In vain did the infirm and a^ed call on the 
vigorous and more youthful for the customary assistance ; they 
were avoided like the cases of plague, and were left to hobble 
up the terraced street as best they might. Even mothers, after 
dragon n£ them at their own sides till* fearful of bein^ too late, 
abandoned their young in the highway, certain of finding them 
rolled to the foot of the declivity, should they fail of scrambling 
to its summit. In short, it was a scene of confusion in which 
there was much to laugh at, something to awaken wonder, and 
not a little that was natural. 

Ten minutes had not certainly elapsed, after the rumor 
reached the lower part of the town, ere two thousand persons 
were on the hill, including nearly all the principal personages 
of the place, ’Maso Tonti, Ghita, and the different characters 
known to the reader. So nearly did the scene of this evening 
resemble that of the past, the numbers of the throng on the hill 
and the greater interest excepted, that one who had been present 
at the former, might readily have fancied the latter merely its 
continuation. There, indeed, was the lugger, under her foresail 
and mainsail, with the jigger brailed, coming down wing-and- 
wing, and glancing along the glittering sea like the duck sailing 
towards her nest. This time, however, the English ensign was 
flying at the end of the jigger yard, as if in triumph ; and the 
little craft held her way nearer to the rocks, like one acquainted 
with the coast, and fearing no danger. There was a manner of 
established confidence in the way in which she trusted herself 
under the muzzles of guns that might have destroyed her in a 



112 


WING-AND-WING. 


very few minutes, and no one who saw her approach could very 
well believe that she was anything but a known, as well as a 
confirmed friend. 

“Would any of the republican rascals, think you, Signor 
Andrea,” asked Vito Viti, in triumph, 44 dare to come into Porto 
Ferrajo in this style ; knowing, too, as does this 4 Sir 
Smees,’ the sort of people he will have to deal with ! Remem- 
ber, Vice-go vernatore, that the man has actually been ashore 
among us, and would not be likely to run his head into the 
lion’s mouth.” 

44 Thou hast changed thine opinion greatly, neighbor Vito,” 
answered the vice-governatore, somewhat drily, for he was far 
from being satisfied on the subject of Sir Cicero, and on those 
of certain other circumstances in English history and politics ; 
44 it better becomes magistrates to be cautious and wary.” 

44 Well, if there be a more cautious and circumspect man in 
Elba than the poor podesta of the Porto Ferrajo, let him stand 
forth, o’ God’s name, and prove his deeds ! I do not esteem 
myself, Signor Vice-governatore, as the idlest or as the most 
ignorant man in the Grand Duke’s territories. There may be 
wiser, among whom I place your eccellenza ; but there is not a 
more loyal subject, or a more zealous friend of truth.” 

44 I believe it, good Vito,” returned Andrea, smiling kindly on 
his old associate, 44 and have ever so considered thy advice and 
services. Still, I wish I knew something of this Sir Cicero ; for, 
to be frank with thee, I have even foregone my siesta, in search- 
ing the books in quest of such a man.” 

“And do they not confirm every syllable the Signor Smees has 
said ?” 

44 So far from it, that I do not even find the name. It is 
true, several distinguished orators of that nation are styled English 
Ciceroes ; but then all people do this, b} T way of commendation.” 
44 1 do not know that, Signore — I do not know that — it may 
happen in our Italy ; but would it come to pass, think you, 
among remote and so lately barbarous nations as England, Ger- 
many, and France ?” 


WING-AND-WING. 


113 


“ Thou forgettest, friend Vito,” returned the vice-governatore, 
smiling now, in pity of his companion’s ignorance and preju- 
dices, as just before he had smiled in kindness, “ that we Italians 
took the pains to civilize these people a thousand years ago, and 
that they have not gone backward all this time. But there can 
be no doubt that ‘ ze Ving-y-Ving’ means to enter our bay 
again, and there stands the ‘ Signor Smees’ examining us with 
a glass, as if he, too, contemplated another interview.” 

“It strikes me, Vice-governatore, that it would be a sin 
next to heresy to doubt the character of those who so loyally put 
their trust in us. No republican would dare to anchor in the 
bay of Porto Ferrajo a second time. Once, it might possibly be 
done ; but twice ? — no, never, never.” 

“ I do not know but you are right, Vito, and I am sure I 
hope so. Will you descend to the port, and see that the forms 
are complied with ? Then glean such useful circumstances as 
you can.” 

The crowd was now in motion towards the lower part of the 
town, to meet the lugger ; and at this suggestion the podesta 
hurried down in the throng, to be in readiness to receive the 
“ Signor Smees” as soon as he should land. It was thought 
more dignified and proper for the vice-governatore to remain, 
and await to hear the report of the supposed English officer 
where he was. Ghita was one of the few, also, who remained 
on the heights, her heart now beating with renewed apprehen- 
sions of the dangers that her lover had again braved on her 
account, and now nearly overflowing with tenderness, as she 
admitted the agreeable conviction that, had she not been in 
Porto Ferrajo, Raoul Yvard would never have incurred such risks. 

Ghita delle Torri, or Ghita of the Towers, as the girl was 
ordinarily termed by those who knew her, from a circumstance 
in her situation that will appear as we advance in the tale, or 
Ghita Caraccioli, as was her real name, had been an orphan 
from infancy. She had imbibed a strength of character and a 
self-reliance, from her condition, that might otherwise have been 
wanting in one so young, and of a native disposition so truly 


114 


WING-AND-WING. 


gentle. An aunt had impressed on her mind the lessons of 
female decorum ; and her uncle, who had abandoned the world 
on account of a strong religious sentiment, had aided in making 
her deeply devout and keenly conscientious. The truth of 
her character rendered her indisposed to the deception which 
Raoul was practising, while feminine weakness inclined her to 
forgive the offence in the motive. She had shuddered again 
and again, as she remembered how deeply the young sailor was 
becoming involved in frauds, — and frauds, too, that might so 
easily terminate in violence and bloodshed ; and then she had 
trembled under the influence of a gentler emotion as she 
remembered that all these risks were run for her. Her reason 
had Ions: since admonished her that Raoul Yvard and Ghita 
Caraccioli ought to be strangers to each other ; but her heart 
told a different story. The present was an occasion suited to 
keeping these conflicting feelings keenly alive, and, as has been 
said, when most of the others hastened down towards the port 
to be present when the Wing-And-Wing came in, she remained 
on the hill, brooding over her own thoughts, much of the time 
bathed in tears. 

But Raoul had no intention of trusting his Jack-o’-Lantcrn 
where it might so readily be extinguished by the hand of man. 
Instead of taking shelter against any new roving republican who 
might come along behind the buildings of the port, as had been 
expected, he shot past the end of the quay, and anchored 
within a few fathoms of the ' very spot he had quitted that 
morning, merely dropping his kedge under foot as before. 
Then he stepped confidently into his boat, and pulled for the 
landing. 

“ Eh, Signor Capitano,” cried Yito Viti, as he met his new 
protege with an air of cordiality as soon as the foot of the latter 
touched the shore, “ we looked for the pleasure of receiving you 
into our bosom, as it were, here in the haven. How inge- 
niously you led off that sans calotte this mornino- ! Ah, the 
Inglese are the great nation of the ocean, Colombo notwith- 
standing ! The vice-governatore told me all about your illus- 


WING-AND-WING. 


115 


trious female admiral, Elisabetta, and the Spanish araiada ; and 
there was Nelsoni ; and now we have Smees !” 

Raoul accepted these compliments, both national and per- 
sonal, in a very gracious manner, squeezing the hand of the 
podesta with suitable cordiality and condescension, acting the 
great man as if accustomed to this sort of incense from infancy. 
As became his public situation, as well as his character, he pro- 
posed paying his duty immediately to the superior authorities 
of the island. 

“ King George, my master,” continued Raoul, as he and Vito 
Viti walked from the quay towards the residence of Andrea 
Barrofaldi, “ is particularly pointed on this subject, with us all, 
in his personal orders. ‘Never enter a port of one of my allies, 
Smeet,’ he said, the very last time I took leave of him, ‘ without 
immediately hastening with your duty to the commandant of 
the place. You never lose anything by being liberal of polite- 
ness ; and England is too polished a country to be outdone in 
these things, by even the Italians, the parents of modern 
civilization.’ ” 

“ You are happy in having such a sovrano, and still more so 
in being allowed to approach his sacred person.” 

“ Oh ! as to the last, the navy is his pet ; he considers us 
captains, in particular, as his children. ‘ Never enter London, 
my dear Smeet,’ he said to me, ‘ without coming to the palace, 
where you will always find a father ’ — you know he has one son 
among us who was lately a captain, as well as myself.” 

“ San Stefano ! and he the child of a great king ! I did not 
know that, I confess, Signore.” 

“ Why, it is a law, in England, that the king shall give at 
least one son to the marine. ‘Yes,’ said his Majesty, ‘always 
be prompt in calling on the superior authorities, and remember 
me benevolently and affectionately to them, one and all, even 
down to the subordinate magistrates, who live in their inti- 
macy.’ ” 

Raoul delighted in playing the part he was now performing, 
but he was a little addicted to over-acting it. Like all exceed- 


118 


WING-AND-WING. 


* • 


ingly bold and decided geniuses, be was constantly striding 
across that step which separates the sublime from the ridiculous, 
and consequently ran no small hazard in the way of discovery. 
But with Vito Viti he incurred little risk on this score, provincial 
credulity and a love of the marvellous coming in aid of his 
general ignorance, to render him a safe depository of anything 
of this sort that the other might choose to advance. Vito Viti 
felt it to be an honor to converse with a man who, in his turn, 
had conversed with a king ; and as he puffed his way up the 
steep ascent again, he did not fail to express some of the feelings 
which were glowing in his breast. 

“ Is it not a happiness to serve such a prince ?” he exclaimed 
— “ nav, to die for him !” 

J t 


“ The latter is a service I have not yet performed,'’ answered 
Raoul, innocently, “ but which may one day well happen. Do 
you not think, podesta, that he who lays down his life for his 
prince merits canonization ?” 

“ That would fill the calendar too soon, in these wars, Signor 
Smees ; but I will concede you the generals and admirals, and 
other great personages. Si — a general or an admiral who dies 
for his sovereign, does deserve to be made a saint — this would 
leave these miserable French republicans, Signore, without hope 
or honor !” 

“ They are canaille , from the highest to the lowest, and can 
reasonably expect nothing better. If they wish to be canonized, 
let them restore the Bourbons, and put themselves lawfully in 
the way of such a blessing. The chase of this morning, Signor 
Vito Viti, must at least have amused the town ?” 

The podesta wanted but this opening to pour out a history 
of his own emotions, sensations, and raptures. He expatiated 
in glowing terms on the service the lugger had rendered the 
place by leading off the rascally republicans, showing that he 
considered the manoeuvre of passing the port, instead of entering 
it, as one of the most remarkable of which he had ever heard, 
or even read. 

“ I defied the vice-governatore to produce an example of a 


WING-AND-WING. 


Ill 


finer professional inspiration in the whole range of history, 
beginning with his Tacitus, and ending with your new English 
work on Roma. I doubt if the Elder Pliny, or Mark Antony, 
or even Caesar, ever did a finer thing, Signore ; and I am not a 
man addicted to extravagance in compliments. Had it been a 
fleet of vessels of three decks, instead of a little lugger, Christen- 
dom would have rung with the glory of the achievement !” 

“ Had it been but a frigate, my excellent friend, the ma- 
noeuvre would have been unnecessary. Peste ! it is not a single 
republican ship that can make a stout English frigate skulk 
along the rocks, and fly like a thief at night.” 

“ Ah, there is the vice-governatore walking on his terrace, 
Sir Smees, and dying with impatience to greet you. We will 
drop the subject for another occasion, and a bottle of good 
Florence liquor.” 

The reception which Andrea Barrofaldi gave Raoul, was far 
less warm than that he received from the podesta, though it was 
polite, and without any visible signs of distrust. 

“ I have come, Signor Vice-governatore,” said the privateers- 
man, u in compliance with positive orders from my master, to 
pay my respects to you again, and to report my arrival once 
more in your bay, though the cruise made since my last 
departure has not been so long as an East India voyage.” 

“ Short as it has been, we should have reason to regret your 
absence, Signore, were it not for the admirable proofs it has 
afforded us of your resources and seamanship,” returned Andrea, 
with due complaisance. “ To own the truth, when I saw you 
depart it was with the apprehension that we should never enjoy 
this satisfaction again. But, like your English Sir Cicero, the 
second coming may prove even more agreeable than the 
first” 

Raoul laughed, and he even had the grace to blush a little ; 
after which he appeared to reflect intensely on some matter of 
moment. Smiles struggled round his handsome mouth, and 
then he suddenly assumed an air of sailor-like frankness, and 
disclosed his passing sensations in words. 


118 


WING-AND-WING. 


“ Signor Vice-go vernat ore, I ask the favor of one moment’s 
private conference ; Signor Vito Viti, give us leave a single 
moment, if you please. I perceive, Signore,” continued Raoul, 
as he and Andrea walked a little aside, “ that you have not 
easilv forgotten my little fanfaronade about our English Cicero. 
But what will you have ? — we sailors are sent to sea children, 
and we know little of books. My excellent father, Milord Smeet, 
had me put in a frigate when I was only twelve, an age at 
which one knows very little of Ciceros, or Dantes, or Corneilles, 
even as you will confess. Thus, when I found myself in the 
presence of a gentleman whose reputation for learning has 
reached far beyond the island he so admirably governs, a silly 
ambition has led me into a folly that he finds it hard to forgive. 
If I have talked of names of which I know nothing, it may be a 
weakness such as young men will fall into ; but surely it is no 
heinous crime.” 

“ You allow, Signore, that there has been no English Sir 
Cicero ?” 

“ The truth compels me to say, I know nothing about it. But 
it is hard for a very young man, and one, too, that feels his 
deficiencies of education, to admit all this to a philosopher on a 
first acquaintance. It becomes a different thing, when natural 
modesty is encouraged by a familiar goodness of heart ; and a 
day’s acquaintance with the Signor Barrofaldi is as much as a 
year with an ordinary man.” 

“ If this be the case, Sir Smees, I can readily understand, and 
as willingly overlook what has passed,” returned the vice- 
governatore, with a self-complacency that in nothing fell short 
of that which Vito Viti had so recently exhibited. “ It, must 
be painful to a sensitive mind to feel the deficiencies which 
unavoidably accompany the want of opportunities for study ; 
and I, at least, can now say how delightful it is to witness the 
ingenuousness which admits it. Then, if England has never 
possessed a Cicero in name, doubtless she has had many in 
qualifications, after allowing for the halo which time ever throws 
around a reputation. Should your duty often call you this way, 


WING-AND-WING. 


119 


Signore, during the summer, it will add to the pleasure I 
experience in enjoying the advantage of your acquaintance, to 
be permitted, in some slight degree, to direct your reading to 
such works, as, with a mind like yours, will be certain to lead 
to profit and pleasure.” 

Raoul made a suitable acknowledgment for this offer, and 
from that moment the best understanding existed between the 
parties. The privateersman, who had received a much better 
education than he pretended to, and who was a consummate 
actor, as well as, on certain occasions, a practised flatterer, deter- 
mined to be more cautious in future, sparing his literary conjec- 
tures, whatever liberties he might take with other subjects. 
And yet this reckless and daring mariner never flattered nor 
deceived Ghita in anything ! With her he had been all sin- 
cerity, the influence he had obtained over the feelings of that 
pure-minded girl being as much the result of the nature and 
real feeling he had manifested, as of his manly appearance and 
general powers of pleasing. It would have been, indeed, mat- 
ter of interesting observation, for one curious in the study of 
human nature, to note how completely the girl’s innocence and 
simplicity of character had extended itself over every act of the 
young man, that was any way connected with her ; preventing 
his even feigning that religion which he certainly did not feel, 
and the want of which was the sole obstacle to the union he had 
now solicited for near a twelvemonth, and which, of all others, 
was the object by far the closest to his heart. With Andrea 
Barrofaldi and Vito Viti, and most especially with the hated 
English, it was a very different thing, however ; and seldom 
was Raoul happier than when he was employed in precisely 
such a scene of mvstification as that in which he was at that 
moment engaged. 

The vice-governatore having established relations so com- 
pletely amicable with the “ Signor Smees,” could do no less than 
invite his guest to enter the palazzo, along with himself and the 
podesta. As it was yet too light for the sailor to seek an inter- 
view with Ghita, he cheerfully accepted the offer; making 

I 


120 


wing-and-wingk 


a careful examination of the whole of the northern margin of 
the sea, from his elevated position, however, before he crossed 
the threshold. This little delay, on Raoul’s part, enabled the 
podesta to have a passing word with his friend unobserved. 

“ You have found ‘ Sir Smees,’ ” said Vito Viti, with earnest- 
ness, “ all that your wisdom and prudence could desire, I trust ? 
For my part, I consider him a most interesting youth ; one 
destined, at some future time, to lead fleets, and dispose of the 
fortunes of nations.” 

“ He is more amiable, and even better informed, than I had 
thought, neighbor Vito Viti. He gives up his Sir Cicero with 
a grace that causes one regret it was necessary ; and, like your- 
self, I make no doubt of his becoming an illustrious admiral, in 
time. It is true his father, ‘ Milordo Smees,’ has not done jus- 
tice to his education ; but it is not too late yet to repair that 
evil. Go, desire him to enter ; for I am impatient to draw his 
attention to certain works that may be useful to one in his line 
of life.” 

At this suggestion the podesta returned to the door, in order 
to usher the imaginary Guernsey-man into the residence. He 
found Raoul still standing on the entrance, examining the sea. 
There were two or three coasters, feluccas, as usual, stealing 
along the coast, in the Italian fashion, equally afraid of the bar- 
barians of the south shore, and of the French of the north. All 
these would have been good prizes ; but, to do the privateersman 
justice, he was little in the habit of molesting mariners of so low 
a class. There was one felucca, however, that was just rounding 
the promontory, coming in from the north ; and with the people 
of this craft he determined to have some communication as soon 
as he returned to the port, with a view to ascertain if she had 
fallen in with the frigate. Just as he had come to this resolu- 
tion, the podesta joined him, and he was ushered into the 
house. 

It is unnecessary to give the discourse which succeeded. It 
related more to literature and matters in general, than to any- 
thing connected with our tale, the worthy vice-governatore being 


WING-AND-WING. 


121 


disposed to reward the ingenousness of the young sailor, by fur- 
nishing him as much instruction as the time and circumstances 
would allow. Raoul bore this very well, waiting patiently for 
the light to disappear, when he felt a perfect confidence of again 
meeting Ghita on the promenade. As he had discovered how 
much more safety there was in diffidence than in pretension, he 
found his task of deception comparatively easy ; and by letting 
the vicc-governatore have his own way, he not only succeeded 
in gaining that functionary over to a full belief in his assumed 
nationality, but in persuading him to believe the “ Signor Smees” 
a young man of even more erudition than he had at first sup- 
posed. By means as simple and natural as these, Raoul made 
more progress in the good graces of Andrea Barrofaldi in the 
next two horn’s, than he could have done in a year, by setting 
up his own knowledge and reading as authority. 

There is little doubt that the vice-governatore found this inter- 
view agreeable, from the time he was disposed to waste on 
it ; and, it is certain, Raoul thought it some of the hardest duty 
in which he had ever been engaged. As for Vito Viti, he was 
edified, and he did not care to conceal it, giving frequent mani- 
festations of his satisfaction, by expressions of delight ; occa- 
sionally venturing a remark, as if expressly to betray his own 
ignorance. 

“ I have often known you great, vice-governatore,” he cried, 
when Andrea had closed a dissertation on the earlier history of 
all the northern nations, which lasted fully half-an-hour, “ but 
never so great as you are to-night ! Signore, you have been 
most illustrious this evening ! Is it not so, Signor Smees ? 
Could any professor of Pisa, or even of Padua, do more justice 
to a subject than we have seen done to this to which we have 
been listening ?” 

“ Signor Podesta,” added Raoul, “ but one feeling has pre- 
vailed, in my mind, while attending to what has been said ; and 
that has been deep regret that my profession has cut me off 
from all these rich stores of profound thought. But it is per- 
mitted us to admire that even which we cannot imitate.” 


122 


W1NG-AND-WING. 


“ Quite true, Signori,” answered Andrea, with gentle benevo- 
lence, “ but with dispositions like yours, Sir Smees, it is not so very 
difficult to imitate what we admire. I will write out a list of 
works, which I would recommend to your perusal ; and, by 
touching at Livorno or Napoli, you will obtain all the books at 
reasonable prices. You may expect to see the list on your 
breakfast table to-morrow morning, as I shall not sleep until it 
is completed.” 

Raoul gladly seized upon this promise as a hint to depart, 
and he took his leave with suitable acknowledgments of grati- 
tude and delight. When he got out of the palazzo, however, 
he gave a long low w r histle, like a man who felt he had escaped 
from a scene in which persecution had been a little lightened by 
the ridiculous, and uttered a few curses on the nations of the 
north, for being so inconsiderate as to have histories so much 
longer and more elaborate than he conceived to be at all necessary. 
All this passed as he hastened along the promenade, which he 
found deserted, every human being haring apparently left it. 
At length he thought he perceived a female form some distance 
ahead of him, and in a part of the walk that w^as never much 
frequented. Hastening towards it, his quick eye discerned the 
person of her he sought, evidently waiting for his approach. 

“ Raoul,” exclaimed Ghita, reproachfully, “ in wdiat will these 
often repeated risks finally end ? When so fairly and cleverly 
out of the harbor of Porto Ferrajo, why did you not possess the 
prudence to remain there ?” 

“ Thou know T ’st the reason, Ghita, and w r hy ask this question ? 
San Nettuno ! w T as it not handsomely done ; and is not this 
brave rice-governatore rarely mystified ! — I sometimes think, 
Ghita, I have mistaken my vocation, which should have been 
that of a diplomate.” 

“ And why a diplomate in particular, Raoul — thou art too 
honest to deceive long, whatever thou may’st do on an occasion 
like this, and in a pressing emergency.” 

“ Why ? — but, no matter. This Andrea Barrofaldi, and this 
Vito Viti, will one day know why. And now to our business, 


WING-AND-WINO. 


123 


Ghita, since le Feu-Follet cannot always decorate the bay of 
Porto Ferrajo.” 

“ True,” interrupted the girl, u and I have come for no other 
purpose than to say as much myself. My dear uncle has arriv- 
ed, and he intends to sail for the Torri with the first felucca.” 

“ There ! — this has done more to make me believe in a Provi- 
dence than all the preaching of all the padri of Italy ! Here 
is the lugger to take the place of the felucca, and we can sail 
this very night. My cabin shall be yours entirely, and with 
your uncle for a protector, no one can raise an evil tongue 
against the step.” 

Ghita, to own the truth, expected this very offer, which, 
agreeable as it was, her sense of propriety would certainly have 
prevented her, from accepting, but for one consideration : it 
might be made the means of getting Raoul out of an enemy’s 
port ; and, in so much, out of harm’s way. This, with one of 
her affectionate heart, was an object to which she would have 
sacrificed appearances of even a graver character. We do not 
wish the reader, however, to get a false impression of this girl’s 
habits and education. Although the latter, in many particulars, 
was superior to that received by most young women of her class 
in life, the former were simple, and suited to her station, as well 
as to the usages of her country. She had not been brought up 
with that severe restraint which regulates the deportment of the 
young Italian females of condition, perhaps in a degree just as 
much too severely, as it leaves the young American too little 
restrained ; but she had been taught all that decorum and deli- 
cacy required, either for the beautiful or the safe ; and her 
notions inculcated the inexpediency, if not the impropriety, 
of one in her situation taking a passage in a privateer at all, 
and particularly so one commanded by an avowed lover. But, 
on the other hand, the distance between Porto Ferrajo and the 
Towers was only about fifty miles, and a few hours would suffice 
to place her in safety beneath her own roof; and, what was of 
more importance in her view just then, Raoul in safety along 
with her. On all this had she pondered, and she was conse- 


124 


WING-AND-WING. 


quently prepared with an answer to the proposal that had just 
been made. 

“ If my uncle and myself could accept this generous offer, 
when would it be convenient for you to sail, Raoul ?” the girl 
demanded ; “ w T e have now been absent longer than we intend- 
ed, and longer than we ought.” 

“ Within an hour, if there were any wind. But you see how' 
it is, Ghita ; the zephyr has done blowing, and it now seems as 
if every fan of Italy had gone to sleep. You can depend on 
our sailing the instant it shall be in our power. At need, we 
will use the sweeps.” 

“ I will then see my uncle, and mention to him that there is 
a vessel about to sail, in which we had better embark. Is it 
not odd, Raoul, that he is profoundly ignorant of your being in 
the bay ? He gets more and more lost to things around him 
every day, and I do believe he does not recollect that you com- 
mand an enemy’s vessel half the time.” 

“ Let him trust to me ; he shall never have occasion to know 
it, Ghita,” 

“ We are assured of that, Raoul. The generous manner in 
which you interposed to save us from the corsair of the Alge- 
rines, which began our acquaintance, and for which we shall 
always have occasion to bless you, has made peace between you 
and us for ever. But for your timely succor, last summer, 
my uncle and myself would now have been slaves with barba- 
rians !” 

“ That is another thing that inclines me to believe in a Provi- 
dence, Ghita ! Little did I know, when rescuing you and your 
good kinsman from the boat of the Algerine, who I was saving. 
And yet you see how all has come to pass, and that in serving 
you I have merely been serving myself.” 

“ Would thou could’st learn to serve that God who disposes 
of us all at his holy pleasure !” murmured Ghita, tears forcing 
themselves to her eyes, and a convulsive effort alone suppressing 
the deep emotion with which she uttered the words : u but we 
thank thee again and again, Raoul, as the instrument of his 


WIN 6-AND-WIN G . 


125 


mercy in the affair of the Algerine, and are willing to trust to 
thee now and always. It will be easy to induce my uncle to 
embark ; but, as he knows thy real character when he chooses 
to recollect it, I hardly think it will do to say with whom. We 
must arrange an hour and a place to meet, when I will see to 
his being there, and in readiness.” 

Raoul and Ghita next discussed the little details ; a place of 
rendezvous without the town, a short distance below the wine- 
house of Benedetta, being selected, in preference to choosing 
one that would necessarily subject them to observation. This 
portion of the arrangements was soon settled, and then Ghita 
thought it prudent to separate. In this proposal her compa- 
nion acquiesced with a better grace than he might have done, 
had he not the girl’sassurance of meeting him within an hour, 
in order that everything might be ready for a start with the 
first appearance of wind. 

When left alone, Raoul bethought him that Ithuel and Filippo 
were on shore as usual, the New Hampshire man consenting 
to serve only on condition of being allowed to land ; a privilege 
he always abused by driving a contraband trade on occasions 
like the present. So great was the fellow’s dexterity in such 
matters, that Raoul — wdio disdained smuggling, while he 
thought himself compelled to wink at it in others — had less 
apprehensions of his committing the lugger than he might have 
felt in the case of one less cunning. But it was now necessary 
to get these two men off or abandon them ; and fortunately 
remembering the name of the wine-house where they had 
taken their potations the previous night, he repaired to it with- 
out delay, luckily finding Ithuel and his interpreter deep in the 
discussion of another flask of the favorite Tuscan beverage. 
’Maso and his usual companions w T ere present also, and there 
being nothing unusual in the commander of an English ship 
of war’s liking good liquor, Raoul, to prevent suspicion, drew a 
chair and asked for his glass. By the conversation that followed, 
the young privateersman felt satisfied that, though he might 
have succeeded in throwing dust into the eyes of the vice- 


126 


WING-AND-WIN G. 


governatore and the podesta, these experienced old seamen still 
distrusted his character. It was so unusual a thing for a French 
frigate, while it was so usual for an English frigate to be 
standing along the coast, near in, that these mariners — who 
were familiar with all such matters, had joined this circumstance 
to the suspicious signs about the lugger, and were strongly dis- 
posed to believe the truth concerning both vessels. To all this, 
however, Raoul was more indifferent than he might have been 
but for the arrangement to sail so soon. He took his wine, 
therefore, with apparent indifference, and in proper season with- 
drew, carrying with him Ithuel and the Genoese. 


WING-AND-WING. 


127 


CHAPTER VIII. 


Within our bay, one stormy night, 

The isle’s men saw boats make for shore, 

With here and there a dancing light 
That flashed on man and oar. 

When hailed, the rowing stopped, and all was dark. 

Ha! lantern work ! — We’ll home ! They’re playing shark !” 

Dana. 


It was dark when Raoul quitted the government-house, 
leaving Andrea Barrofaldi and Vito Viti in the library of the 
former. No sooner was the young seaman’s back turned, than 
the vice-governatore, who was in a humor to display his acquire- 
ments, resumed a discussion that he had found so agreeable to 
his self-esteem. 

“ It is easy to see, good Vito Viti, that this young Inglese is 
a gentle of noble birth, though not of a liberal education,” he 
said ; “ doubtless his father, Milordo Srnees, has a large family, 
and the usages of England are different from those of Italy, in 
respect to birthright. There, the eldest son alone inherits the 
honors of the family, while the cadets are put into the army 
and navy, to earn new distinctions. Nelsoni is the son of a priest, 
I hear — ” 

“ Cospetto ! of a padre ! Signor Vice-governatore,” interrupted 
the podesta — “ it is most indecent to own it. A priest must 
be possessed of the devil, himself, to own his issue ; though issue 
he may certainly have.” 

“ There, again, good Vito, it is different with the Luterani 
and us Catholics. The priests of England, you will please 
remember, marry, while ours do not.” 

“ I should not like to be shrived by such a padre ! The man 
would be certain to tell his wife all I confessed ; and the saints 


128 


WING-AND-WINO. 


could only say what would be the end on’t. Porto Ferrajo 
would soon be too hot to hold an honest man — aye, or even an 
honest woman, in the bargain.” 

“ But the Luterani do not confess, and are never shrived at 
all, you will remember ” 

“ San Stefano ! — How do they expect, then, ever to get to 
heaven ?” 

“ I will not answer that they do, friend Vito — and we are 
certain, that if they have such expectations, they must be most 
treacherous to them. But, talking of this Sir Smees, you per- 
ceive in his air and manner, the finesse of the Anglo-Saxon 
race ; which is a people altogether distinct from the Ancient 
Gauls, both in history and character. Pietro Giannone, in his 
Storia Civile del Regno di Napoli , speaks of the Normans, 
who were a branch of these adventurers, with great interest and 
particularity ; and I think I can trace, in this youth, some of 
the very peculiarities that are so admirably delineated in his 
well-told, but too free writings. Well, Pietro ; I was not 
speaking of thee, but of a namesake of thine, of the family of 
Giannona, an historian of Naples, of note and merit — what is 
thy will r 

This question was put to a servant, w T ho entered at that 
moment, holding in his hand a piece of paper, which he desired 
to lay before his master. 

“ A cavaliere is without, Signor Andrea, who asks the honor 
of an audience, and who sends in his name, as your eccellenza 
will find it on this paper.” 

The vice-governatore took the slip of paper, and read aloud : 
“ Edward Griffin, tenente della marina Inglesa.” 

u Ah! here is an officer sent from ‘ ze Ving-y-Ving’ with 
some communication, friend Vito ; it is fortunate you are still 
here, to hear what he has to say. Show the lieutenant in, 
Pietro.” 

One who understood Englishmen better than Andrea Barro- 
faldi, would have been satisfied, at a glance, that he who now 
entered was really a native of that country. He was a young 


WING-AND-WING. 


129 


man of some two or three and twenty, of a ruddy, round, good- 
natured face, wearing an undress coat of the service to which he 
professed to belong, and whose whole air and manner betrayed 
his profession, quite as much as his country. The salutations 
he uttered were in very respectable Italian, familiarity with the 
language being the precise reason why he had been selected for 
the errand on which he had come. After these salutations, he 
put a piece of parchment into Andrea’s hand, remarking — 

“ If you read English, Signore, you will perceive by that 
commission I am the person I represent myself to be.” 

“ Doubtless, Signor Tenente, you belong to ze Ving-y-Ving, 
and are a subordinate of Sir Smees ?” 

The young man looked surprised, and, at the same time, half 
disposed to laugh ; though a sense of decorum suppressed the 
latter inclination. 

“ I belong to His Britannic Majesty’s ship Proserpine, Signore,” 
he drily answered, “ and know not what you mean by the Ving- 
y-Ving. Captain Cuffe, of that ship, the frigate you saw off 
your harbor this morning, has sent me down in the felucca that 
got in this evening, to communicate intelligence concerning the 
lugger, which we chased to the southward about nine o’clock, 
but which, I see, is again snug at her anchor in this bay. Our 
ship was lying behind Capraya, when I left her, but will be here 
to take me off, and to hear the news, before daylight, should the 
wind ever blow again.” 

Andrea Barrofaldi and Vito Viti stared, and that, too, as if a 
messenger had come from the lower regions to summon them 
away for their misdeeds. Lieutenant Griffin spoke unusually 
good Italian, for a foreigner ; and his manner of proceeding was 
so straightforward and direct, as to carry with it every appear- 
ance of truth. 

“You do not know what I mean by ze Ving-y-Ving ?” 
demanded the vice-governatore, with emphasis. 

“ To be frank with you, I do not, Signore. Ving-y-Ving is 
not English ; nor do I know that it is Italian.” 

Mr. Griffin lost a good deal of ground by this assertion, 

6 * 


130 


WING-AND-WING. 


which implied a doubt of Andrea’s knowledge of foreign 
tongues. 

“ You say, Signor Tenente, if I comprehend your meaning, 
that Ving-y-Ving is not English ?” 

“ Indeed I do, sir ; at least no English that I have ever heard 
spoken, at sea or ashore ; and we seamen have a language of 
our own.” 

“ Will you, then, permit me to ask you what is the translation 
of ala e ala ; word for word.” 

The lieutenant paused a moment, and pondered. Then he 
laughed involuntarily, checking himself almost immediately, 
with an air of respect and gravity. 

“ I believe I now understand you. Signor Vice-governatore,” 
he said ; “ we have a sea-phrase something like this, to describe 
a fore-and-aft vessel with her sails swinging off on both sides ; 
but we call it wing-and-wing.” 

“ Si, Signore — ving-y-ving. Such is the name of the lugger 
of your king, that now lies in our bay.” 

“ Ah ! we thought as much, Signori ; the scoundrel has 
deceived you, as he has done a hundred before you, and will do 
a hundred again, unless we catch him to-night. The lugger 
is a celebrated French privateer, that we have six cruisers in 
chase of at this moment, our own ship included. She is called 
le Feu-Follet, which is not Wing-and-Wing, but Will-o’-the- 
Wisp, or Jack-o’-Lantern, in English ; and which you, in Italian, 
would call il Fuoco Fatuo. Her commander is Raoul Yvard, 
than whom there is not a greater desperado sailing out of France ; 
though it is admitted that the fellow has some good — nay, some 
noble qualities.” 

At every word uttered by the lieutenant, a page of history 
was blotted out from the memory of his listener. The vice- 
governatore had heard the name of Raoul Yvard, and even that 
of le Feu-Follet, which the malignancy of a bitter war had black- 
ened nearly to the hues of pirac}^. The thought that he had 
been the dupe of this corsair — nay, that he had actually been 
entertaining him with honors and hospitality, within an hour, 


WING-AND- WING. 


131 


was almost too much for his philosophy. Men do not often 
submit to such humiliating sensations without a struggle ; and 
before he would, or could, accord full credence to what was now 
told him, it was natural to oppose the objections that first offered. 

“ All this must be a mistake,” observed the vice-governatore ; 
“ there are English as well as French luggers ; and this is one 
of the former. Her commander is a noble English gentleman, 
a son of Milordo Smees ; and though his education has been in 
a trifling degree neglected, he shows his origin and national 
character in all he says and does. Ze Ving-y-Ving is com- 
manded by Sir Smees, a young officer of merit, as you must 
have seen yourself, Signore, by his evolutions this very morn- 
ing. Surely, you have heard of II Capitano Sir Smees, the son 
of Milordo Smees !” 

“ We do not deny that his escape, this morning, was a clever 
thing, Vice-governatore, for the fellow is a seaman, every inch 
of him ; and he is as brave as a lion ; but, then, he is as impu- 
dent as a beggar’s dog. There is no Sir Smees, nor Sir 
Anybody else, in command of any of our luggers, anywhere. 
In the Mediterranean, we have no cruiser of this rig at all ; and 
the two or three we have elsewhere, are commanded by old sea- 
dogs, who have been brought up in that sort of craft. As for 
Sii*s, they are scarce out here, though the battle of the Nile has 
made a few of them for the navy. Then youdl not meet with 
a nobleman’s son in a clipper like this, for that sort of gentry 
generally go from a frigate’s quarter-deck into a good sloop, as 
commander, and after a twelvemonth’s work, or so, in the small 
one, into a fast frigate again, as a post-captain.” 

Much of this was gibberish to Andrea Barrofaldi, but Griffin 
being exclusively naval, he fancied every one ought to take the 
same interest as he did himself in all these matters. But, 
while the Vice-governatore did not understand more than half 

O 

of the other’s meaning, that half sufficed to render him exceed- 
ingly uneasy. The natural manner of the lieutenant, too, car- 
ried conviction with it, while all the original impressions against 
the lugger were revived by his statements. 


132 


WINO-AND-WING. 


“ What say you, Signor Yito Viti ?” demanded Andrea ; “ you 
have been present at the interviews with Sir Smees.” 

“ That we have been deceived by one of the most oily-tongued 
rogues that ever took in honest men, if we have been deceived 
at all, vice-governatore. Last evening, I would have believed 
this ; but since the escape and return of the lugger, I could 
have sworn that we had an excellent friend and ally in our 
bay.” 

“ You had your signals, Signor Tenente ; and that is proof of 
amity and understanding.” 

“ We made our number, when we saw the lugger with an 
English ensign set, for we did not suppose a Frenchman would 
be quietly lying in a Tuscan port ; but the answer we got was 
nonsense ; and then we remembered to have heard that this 
Raoul Yvard was in the habit of playing such tricks, all along 
the Italian coast. Once on the scent, we were not the men to 
be easily thrown off it. You saw the chase and know the 
result.” 

“ There must be some error in all this ! Would it not be 
well, Signore, to see the commander of the lugger — or to go on 
board of her and satisfy yourself, with your own eyes, of the 
truth or falsehood of your surmises ? Ten minutes might clear 
up everything.” 

“ Your pardon, Signor Vice-governatore ; were I to trust 
myself on board le Feu-Follet, I might remain a prisoner until 
a peace was made ; and I have yet two steps to gain before I 
can afford that risk. Then as to letting Yvard know of my 
presence here, it would just give him the alarm, and cause us to 
lose the bird, before we can spring the net. My orders are posi- 
tive, not to let any one but the authorities of the island know of 
my visit, or its object. All we ask of you is to detain the lugger 
until morning ; then we will see to it, that she will never trouble 
the Italian coast again.” 

“ Nay, Signore, we have guns of our own, and could easily 
dispose of so small a vessel, once assured of her being an enemy,” 
returned the vice-governatore, with a little pride and loftiness of 


WING-AND-WING. 


133 


manner ; “ convince us of that fact, and we’ll sink the lugger at 
her anchors.” 

“ That is just what we do not wish you to do, Signore,” 
answered the lieutenant, with interest. “From what passed 
this morning, Captain Cuffe has thought it probable that Mon- 
sieur Yvard, for some reason best known to himself, would come 
back here as soon as he was rid of us ; or that, finding himself 
on the south side of the island, he might put into Porto Longone ; 
and, had I not met him here, I was to get a horse, and ride 
across to the latter place, and make my arrangements there. 
We wish by all means to get possession of the lugger, which, 
in smooth water, is the fastest craft in the Mediterranean, and 
would be of infinite service to us. We think the Proserpine 
would prove too much for her, blowing fresh ; but, in moderate 
weather, she will go six feet to our five. Now, if you open on 
her, she will either escape or be sunk ; for Raoul Yvard is not a 
man to strike to a town. All I ask is to be permitted to make 
night-signals, for which I am prepared, as soon as the frigate 
approaches, and that you will throw all the delays, by means of 
forms and permits, in the way of the Frenchman’s sailing, until 
to-morrow morning. We will answer for the rest.” 

“ I should think there would be but little danger of the lug- 
ger’s departing in the night, Signor Tenente, her commander 
rather expressing an intention of passing several days with us ; 
and it is this ease and confidence of his, which cause me to 
think that he cannot be the person you take him for. Why 
should Raoul Yvard and le Feu-Follet come into Porto Ferrajo 
at all ?” 

“No one knows : it is the man’s habit : and doubtless he has 
reasons for it. ’T is said, he has even been in at Gibraltar ; and 
it is certain he has cut several valuable store-ships out of our 
convoys. There is an Austrian loading with iron, I perceive, 
in the harbor ; probably he is waiting for her to fill up, and 
finds it easier to watch her at an anchor, than by lying 
outside.” 

“ You naval gentlemen have ways known only to yourselves ; 


184 


WING-AND-WING. 


all this may be so, but it seems an enigma to me. Have 
you any other proofs of your own character, Signor Tenente, 
than the commission you have shown me ? for Sir Smees, as I 
have been taught to call the commander of the lugger, has one 
too, that has an air of as much authenticity as this you have 
shown ; and he wears quite as English-looking a uniform ; how 
am I to judge between you ?” 

“ That difficulty has been foreseen, Signor Vice-governatore, 
and I come well provided with the necessary proofs. I handed 
you my commission, as that is a document, which, if wanting, 
might throw a distrust on all other proofs. But, here is a com- 
munication from your superior at Florence, recommending us to 
the kindness of the authorities of all the Tuscan ports, which 
you will readily understand. Captain Cuffe has furnished me 
with other proofs, which you can look over at your leisure.” 

Andrea Barrofaldi now set about a cautious and deliberate 
examination of the papers shown him. They proved to be 
of a nature to remove every doubt ; and it was not possible to 
distrust the party that presented them. This was a great deal 
towards convicting the Signor Smees of imposition, though 
both the vice-governatore and the podesta were of opinion 
that Captain Cuffe might yet be mistaken as to the identity of 
the lugger. 

“ It is impossible, Signori,” answered the lieutenant ; “ we 
know every English cruiser in these seas, by name and descrip- 
tion at least, and most of them by sight. This is none ; and 
everything about her, particularly her sailing, betrays her real 
name. We hear there is a man in her who once belonged to 
our own ship, a certain Ithuel Bolt — ■” 

“ Cospetto !” exclaimed the podesta — “ Then we must set 
down this Sir Smees, after all, for an arrant rogue ; for this is 
the very man we met at Benedetta’s the past night. An Ame- 
ricano, Signor Tenente, is he not ?” 

“ Why, the fellow pretends to be some such thing,” answered 
the young man, coloring, for he was loath to confess the wrong 
that had been done the deserter ; “ but half the British seamen 


WING-AND-WINGe 


135 


one falls in with nowadays call themselves Americans, in order 
to escape serving his Majesty. I rather think this rascal is a 
Cornish or a Devonshire man ; he has the twang and the nasal 
sing-song of that part of the island. If an American, however, 
we have a better right to him than the French ; speaking our 
language, and being descended from a common ancestry, and 
having a common character, it is quite unnatural for an Ameri- 
can to serve any but the English.” 

“ I did not know that, vice-go vernatore ! — I thought the 
Americani a very inferior sort of people to us Europeans, gene- 
rally ; and that they could scarcely claim to be our equals in 
any sense.” 

“ You are quite right, Signor Podesta,” said the lieutenant, 
briskly ; “ they are all you think them ; and any one can see 
that at a glance. Degenerate Englishmen, we call them in the 
service.” 

“ And yet you take them occasionally, Signor Tenente ; 
and, as I understand from this Ithuello, frequently contrary 
to their wishes, and by force,” drily observed Andrea Bar- 
rofaldi. 

“ How can we help it, Signore ; the king has a right to and 
he has need of the services of all his own seamen ; and, in the 
hurry of impressing, we sometimes make a mistake. Then, 
these Yankees are so like our own people, that I would defy the 
devil himself to tell them apart.” 

The vice-governatore thought there was something contradic- 
tory in all this, and he subsequently said as much to his friend 
the podesta ; but the matter went no further at the moment, 
most probably because he ascertained that the young lieutenant 
was only using what might be termed a national argument ; 
the English government constantly protesting that it was impos- 
sible to distinguish one people from the other, quoad this parti- 
cular practice ; while nothing was more offensive, to their eyes, 
in the abstract, than to maintain any affinity in appearance or 
characteristics. 

The result of the discussion, notwithstanding, was to make 


136 


W I N G - A N D - W I N G . 


the two Italians reluctant converts to the opinion of the English- 
man, that the lugger was the dreaded and obnoxious Feu-Follet. 
Once convinced, however, shame, revenge, and mortification, 
united with duty to quicken their exertions, and to render them 
willing assistants in executing the schemes of Captain Cuffe. It 
was, perhaps, fortunate for Raoul and his associates that the 
English offi eel’s had so strong a desire, as Griffin expressed it, 
“ to take the lugger alive else might she have been destroyed 
where she lay, by removing a gun or two from its proper 
embrasure, and planting them behind some natural ramparts 
among the rocks. The night was dark, it is true, but not so 
much so as to render a vessel indistinct at the short distance at 
which le Feu-Follet lay ; and a cannonade would have been 
abundantly certain. 

When all parties were of a mind as to the true character of 
the little craft in the bay, a consultation was had on the details 
of the course proper to be pursued. A window of the govern- 
ment-house that looked towards the direction of Capraya, or 
that in which the Proserpine was expected to arrive, was 
assigned to Griffin. The young man took his station at it about 
midnight, in readiness to burn the blue-lights with which he 
was provided, the instant he should discern the signals of his 
ship. The position of this window Avas well adapted to the 
desired object, inasmuch as the lights could not be seen from 
the town, while they were plainly open to the sea. The same 
was essentially true as to the signals of the frigate, the heights 
interposing between her and the houses ; and there being a still 
greater physical impossibility that anything lying in the bay 
should discover an object at sea on the northern side of the 
promontory. 

In this manner, then, did hour after hour pass away, a light 
land-breeze blowing, but coming so directly into the bay as to 
induce Raoul not to lift his kedge. Ghita, and her uncle, Carlo 
Giuntotardi, had come off about ten ; but there were still no 
signs of movement on board the lugger. To own the truth, 
Raoul was in no hurry to sail, for the longer his departure was 


WING-AND-WING. 


137 


protracted the longer would he have the happiness of retaining 
the lovely girl on board ; and the zephyr of the succeeding day 
would be almost certain to carry le Feu-Follet up to the island- 
like promontory of Monte Argentaro, the point where stood the 
watch-towers of which Carlo was the keeper, and in one of 
which he resided. Under these circumstances, therefore, it is not 
surprising that the rising of the land-breeze was overlooked, or 
at least disregarded ; and that Raoul sat conversing with Ghita 
on deck until long past midnight, ere he allowed her to seek 
her little cabin, where everything had been properly arranged 
for her reception. To own the truth, Raoul was so confident of 
having completely mystified all on shore, that he felt no appre- 
hensions from that quarter ; and, desirous of prolonging his 
present happiness as much as possible, he had very coolly 
determined not to sail until the southerly air of the morning 
should come ; which, as usual, would just suffice to carry him well 
into the canal, when the zephyr would do the rest. Little did 
this hardy adventurer suspect what had occurred on shore since 
he quitted it ; nor was he at all aware that Tommaso Tonti was 
at watch in the harbor, ready to report the slightest indication, 
on the part of the lugger, of a wish to quit the bay. 

But, while Raoul was so indifferent to the danger he ran, the 
feeling was quite the reverse with Ithuel Bolt. The Proserpine 
was the bane of this man’s life ; and he not only hated every 
stick and every timber in her, but every officer and man who 
was attached to her — the king, whose colors she wore, and the 
nation whose interest she served. An active hatred is the most 
restless of all passions ; and this feeling made Ithuel keenly 
alive to every chance which might still render the frigate 
dangerous to the lugger. He thought it probable the former 
would return in quest of her enemy ; and, expressly with a view 
to this object, when he turned in at nine, he left orders to be 
called at two, that he might be on the alert in season. 

Ithuel was no sooner awaked when he called two trusty men, 
whom he had prepared for the purpose, entered a light boat 
that was lying in readiness, on the off side of the lugger, and 


188 


WIN G*AND*WING. 


pulled with muffled oars towards the eastern part of the bay. 
When sufficiently distant from the town to escape observation, 
he changed his course, and proceeded directly out to sea. Half 
an hour sufficed to carry the boat as far as Ithuel deemed 
necessary, leaving him about a mile from the promontory, and 
so far to the westward as to give him a fair view of the window 
at which Griffin had taken post. 

The first occurrence out of the ordinary course of things that 
struck the American was the strong light of a lamp shining 
through an upper window of the government-house — not that 
at which the lieutenant was posted, but one above it — and which 
had been placed there expressly as an indication to the frigate, 
that Griffin had arrived, and was actively on duty. It was now 
two o’clock, or an hour or two before the appearance of light, 
and the breeze off the adjoining continent was sufficiently strong 
to force a good sailing vessel, whose canvas had been thickened 
by the damps of night, some four knots through the water ; and 
as Capraya was less than thirty miles from Porto Ferrajo, 
abundant time had been given to the Proserpine to gain her 
offing ; that ship having come from behind her cover, as soon 
as the sun had set, and the haze of evening settled upon the sea. 

Ithuel, usually so loquacious and gossiping in his moments 
of leisure, was silent and observant when he had anything 
serious on hand. His eye was still on the window in which the 
lamp was visible, the pure olive oil that was burning in it 
throwing out a clear, strong flame ; when suddenly a blue-light 
flashed beneath the place, and he got a momentary glimpse of 
the bodv of the man who held it, as he leaned forward from 
another window. The motion which now turned his head sea- 
ward was instinctive ; it was just in time to let him detect a 
light descending apparently into the water like a falling star ; 
but which, in fact, was merely a signal lantern of the Proserpine 
coming rapidly down from the end of her gaff. 

“ Ah ! d -n you,” said Ithuel, grating his teeth, and shak- 

ing his fist in the direction of the spot where this transient 
gleam of brightness had disappeared — “ I know you, and your 


WING-AND-WING. 


189 


old trieks, with your lanterns and night-signals. Here goes the 
answer.” 

As he said this, he touched a rocket, of which he had several 
in the boat, with the lighted end of the cigar he had been 
smoking, and it went hissing up into the air, ascending so high 
as to be plainly visible from the deck of le Feu-Follet before it 
exploded. Griffin saw this signal with wonder; the frigate 
noted it with embarrassment, for it was far to seaward of the 
lamp ; and even ’Maso conceived it necessary to quit his station, 
in order to report the circumstance to the colonel, whom he was 
to call in the event of any unusual occurrence. The common 
impression, however, among all these parties was, that a second 
cruiser had come through the canal, from the southward, in the 
course of the night, and that she wished to notify the Proserpine 
of her position, probably expecting to meet that ship off the 
island. 

On board le Feu-Follet the effect was different. The land- 
breeze of Italy is a side-wind to vessels quitting the bay of 
Porto Ferrajo ; and two minutes after the rocket exploded, the 
lugger was gliding almost imperceptibly, and yet at the rate of 
a knot or two, under her jigger and jib, towards the outer side 
of the port, or along the very buildings past which she had 
brushed the previous day. This movement was made at the 
critical instant when ’Maso was off his watch ; and the ordinary 
sentinels of the works had other duties to attend to. So light 
was this little vessel that a breath of air set her in motion, and 
nothing was easier than to get three or four knots out of her in 
smooth water, especially when she opened the comparatively 
vast folds of her two principal lugs. This she did when close 
under the citadel, or out of sight of the town, the sentinels above 
hearing the flaps of her canvas, without exactly understanding 
whence they came. At this instant Ithuel let off a second 
rocket, and the lugger showed a light on her starboard bow, so 
concealed, however, on all sides but one, as to be visible only in 
the direction of the boat. As this was done, she put her helm 
hard down, and hauled her fore-sheet over flat to windward. 


140 


WING-AND- WING. 


Five minutes later, Ithuel had reached her deck, and the boat 
was hauled in as if it had been inflated silk. Deceived by the 
second rocket, the Proserpine now made her number with 
regular signal lanterns, with the intention of obtaining that of 
the stranger, trusting that the promontory would conceal it 
from the vessels in the bay. This told Raoul the precise posi- 
tion of his enemy, and he was not sorry to see that he was 
already to the westward of her ; a fact that permitted him to 
slip round the island again, so near in as to be completely con- 
cealed by the back -ground of cliffs. By the aid of an excellent 
night-glass, too, he was enabled to see the frigate, distant about 
a league, under everything that would draw, from her royals 
down, standing towards the mouth of the bay on the larboard 
tack ; having made her calculations so accurately as to drop into 
windward of her port, with the customary breeze off the land. 
At this sight Raoul laughed, and ordered the mainsail taken in. 
Half an hour later, he directed the foresail to be brailed ; 
brought his jigger-sheet in flat, put his helm hard down, and 
hauled the jib-sheet to windward. 

As this last order was executed, day was just breaking over 
the mountains of Radicofani and Aquapendente. By this time 
le Feu-Follet lay about a league to the westward of the promon- 
tory, and abreast of the deep bay that has been already men- 
tioned as being in that direction from the tow'n. Of course she 
w T as far beyond the danger of missiles from the land. The night 
wind, however, had now failed, and there was every appearance 
that the morning would be calm. In this there was nothing 
extraordinary, at that season ; the winds which prevailed from 
the south being usually short and light, unless accompanied by 
a gust. Just as the sun appeared, the south air came, it is 
true, but so lightly as to render it barely possible to keep the 
little lugger in command, by heaving-to with her head to the 
south-west. 

The Proserpine stood in until the day had advanced far 
enough to enable her look-outs to detect le Feu-Follet braving 
her, as it might be, in the western board, at the distance of about 


WING-AND-WING. 


141 


a league and a half, under her jib and jigger, as described. 
This sight produced a great commotion in the ship, even the 
watch below “ tumbling up,” to get another sight of a craft 
so renowned for evading the pursuit of all the English cruisers of 
those seas. A few minutes later Griffin came off, chopfallen 
and disappointed. His first glance at the countenance of his 
superior, announced a coming storm ; for the commander of a 
vessel of war is no more apt to be reasonable, under disappoint- 
ment, than any other potentate. Captain Cuffe had not seen 
fit to wait for his subordinate on deck ; but as soon as it 
was ascertained that he was coming off in a shore-boat, he 
retired to his cabin, leaving orders with the first lieutenant, 
whose name was Winchester, to send Mr. Griffin below the 
instant he reported himself. 

“ Well, sir,” commenced Cuffe, as soon as his lieutenant came 
into the after-cabin, without offering him a seat — “ here we are ; 

and out yonder, two or three leagues at sea, is the d d Few- 

Folly !” for so most of the seamen of the English service pro- 
nounced “ Feu-Follet.” 

“ I beg your pardon, Captain Cuffe,” answered Griffin, who 
found himself compelled to appear a delinquent, whatever might 
be the injustice of the situation ; “ it could not be helped. We 
got in, in proper time ; and I went to work with the deputy- 
governor, and an old chap of a magistrate who was with him, 
as soon as I could get up to the house of the first. Yvard had 
been beforehand with me : and I had to under-run about 
a hundred of his lying yarns before I could even enter the end 
of an idea of my own — ” 

“ You speak Italian, sir, like a Neapolitan born ; and I 
depended on your doing everything as it should have been.” 

“Not so much like a Neapolitan, I hope, Captain Cuffe, as 
like a Tuscan or a Roman,” returned Griffin, biting his lip. 
“ After an hour of pretty hard and lawyer-like work, and over- 
hauling all the documents, I did succeed in convincing the two 
Elban gentry of my own character, and of that of the lugger !” 

“ And while you were playing advocate, Master Raoul Yvard 


142 


WING-AND-WING. 


coolly lifted his anchor, and walked out of the bay, as if he were 
just stepping into his garden to pick a nosegay for his sweet- 
heart !” 

“ No, sir, nothing of the sort happened. As soon as I had 
satisfied the Signor Barrofaldi, the vice-go vernatore — ” 

“ Veechy-govern-the-tory. — D n all veechys, and d n 

all the governatorys, too ; do speak English, Griffin, on board 
an English ship, if you please, even should your Italian happen 
to be Tuscan. Call the fellow vice-governor at once, if that be 
his rank.” 

“Well, sir, as soon as I had satisfied the vice-governor 
that the lugger was an enemy, and that we were friends, every- 
thing went smoothly enough. He wanted to sink the lugger, as 
she lay at her anchor.” 

“ And why the devil didn’t he do it ? Two or three heavy 
shot w r ould have given her a stronger dose than she could bear.” 
“You know, Captain Cuffe, it has all along been your wish 
to take her alive. I thought it would tell so w T ell for the ship, 
to have it to say she had caught le Feu-Follet, that I opposed 
the project. I know Mr. Winchester hopes to get her, as a 
reward for carrying her, himself.” 

“ Aye, and that would make you first. Well, sir, even if you 
didn’t sink her, it w r as no reason for letting her escape.” 

“ We could not prevent it, Captain Cuffe. I had a look-out 
set upon her — one of the very best men in Porto Ferrajo, as 
everybody will tell you, sir; and I made the signals of the 
lamp and the blue-lights, as agreed upon ; and, the ship 
answering, I naturally thought all was as it should be, until — ” 
“ And who burnt the rockets off here, where we are at this 
moment ? They deceived me, for I took them to be signals of 
their presence, from the Weasel or the Sparrow. When I saw 
those rockets, Griffin, I w r as just as certain of the Few-Folly as 
I am now of having my own ship !” 

“Yes, sir, those rockets did all the mischief; for, I have 
since learned, that, as soon as the first one was thrown, Master 
Yvard tripped his kedge, and went out of the bay as quietly as 


WING-AND-WING. 


143 


one goes out of a dining-room, when he don’t wish to disturb 
the company.” 

“Aye, he took French leave, the b y sans culotte ,” 

returned the captain, putting himself in a better humor with 
his own pun. “ But did you see nothing of all this ?” 

“ The first I knew of the matter, sir, was seeing the lugger 
gliding along under the rocks, so close in, that you might have 
jumped aboard her ; and it was too late to stop her. Before 
those lazy far nientes could have pricked and primed, he was 
out of gun-shot.” 

“ Lazy what ?” demanded the captain. 

“ Far nientes , sir ; which is a nickname we give these siesta- 
gentry, you know, Captain Cuffe.” 

“ I know nothing about it, sir ; and I’ll thank you always to 
speak to me in English, Mr. Griffin. That is a language which, 

I flatter myself, I understand ; and it’s quite good enough for . 
all my wants.” 

“ Yes, sir, and for any man’s wants. I’m sure, I am sorry I 
can speak Italian, since it has led to this mistake.” 

“Poh — poh — Griffin, you mustn’t lay everything to heart 
that comes wrong end foremost. Dine with me to-day, and 
we’ll talk the matter over at leisure.” 


144 


WING-AND-WXNG. 


CHAPTER IX. 

“ Now in the fervid noon the smooth bright sea 
Heaves slowly, for the wandering winds are dead 
That stirred it into foam. The lonely ship 
Rolls wearily, and idly flap the sails 
Against the creaking masts. The lightest sound 
Is lost not on the ear, and things minute 
Attract the observant eye.” 

Richardson. 

Thus terminated the setting-down, like many others that 
Captain Cuffe had resolved to give, but which usually ended in 
a return to good-nature and reason. The steward was told to 
set a plate for Mr. Griffin among the other guests, and then the 
commander of the frigate followed the lieutenant on deck. 
Here he found every officer in the ship, all looking at le Feu- 
Follet with longing eyes, and most of them admiring her 
appearance, as she lay on the mirror-like Mediterranean, with the 
two light sails mentioned, just holding her stationary. 

“ A regular-built snake-in-the-grass !” growled the boatswain, 
Mr. Strand, who was taking a look at the lugger over the 
hammock cloths of the waist, as he stood on the heel of a spare 
top-mast to do so ; “ I never fell in with a scamp that had a 
more d n-my-eyes look !” 

This was said in a sort of soliloquy, for Strand was not 
exactly privileged to address a quarter-deck officer on such an 
occasion, though several stood within hearing, and was far too 
great a man to enlighten his subordinates with his cogitations. 
It was overheard by Cuffe, however,, who just at that instant 
stepped into the gangway to make an examination for himself. 

“ It is a snake-owi-of the grass, rather, Strand,” observed the 
captain, for he could speak to whom he pleased, without 
presumption or degradation. “ Had she stayed in port, now, 


WING-AND-WING. 


145 


she would have been in the grass, and we might have scotched 
.her.” 

“ Well, your honor, we can English her, as it is ; and that’ll 
be quite as nat’ral, and quite as much to the purpose, as 
Scotching her, any day,” answered Strand, who, being a native 
of London, had a magnificent sort of feeling towards all the 
dependencies of the empire, and to whom the word scotch, in 
that sense, was Greek, though he well understood what it meant 
“ to clap a Scotchman on a rope “ we are likely to have a flat 
calm all the morning, and our boats are in capital order ; and, 
then, nothing will be more agreeable to our gentlemen than a 
row.” 

Strand was a grey-headed seaman, and he had served with 
Captain Cuffe when the latter was a midshipman, and had even 
commanded the top, of which the present boatswain had been 
the captain. He knew the “ cut of the captain’s jib ” better 
than any other man in the Proserpine, and often succeeded with 
his suggestions, when Winchester and the other lieutenants 
failed. His superior now turned round, and looked him 
intently in the face, as if struck with the notion the other thus 
indirectly laid before him. This movement was noted ; and, at 
a sign secretly given by Winchester, the whole crew gave three 
hearty cheers ; Strand leading off, as soon as he caught the 
idea. This was the only manner in which the crew of a man- 
of-war can express their wishes to their commander ; it being 
always tolerated, in a navy, to hurrah, by way of showing the 
courage of a ship’s company. Cuffe walked aft, in a thoughtful 
manner, and descended to his cabin again ; but a servant soon 
came up, to say that the captain desired to see the first 
lieutenant. 

“ I do not half like this boat-service in open day-light, 
Winchester,” observed the senior, beckoning to the other to take 
a chair. w The least bungling may spoil it all ; and then it’s 
ten to one but your ship goes half-manned for a twelvemonth, 
until you are driven to pressing from colliers and neutrals.” 

“ Bqt we hope, sir, there’ll be no bungling in anything that 


146 


WING-AND-WING. 


the Proserpine undertakes. Nine times in ten, an English man- 
of-war succeeds, when she makes a hold dash in boats against 
one of these picaroons. This lugger is so low in the water, too, 
that it will be like stepping from one cutter into another to get 
upon her decks ; and then, sir, I suppose, you don’t doubt what 
Englishmen will do ?” 

u Aye, Winchester, once on her deck, I make no doubt you’d 
carry her ; but it may not be so easy as you imagine, to get 
on her deck. Of all duty to a captain, this of sending off boats 
is the most unpleasant. He cannot go in person, and if any- 
thing unfortunate turns up, he never forgives himself. Now, 
it’s a very different thing with a fight in which all share alike ; 
and the good or evil comes equally on all hands.” 

“ Quite true, Captain Cuffe ; and yet this is the only chance 
that the lieutenants have for getting ahead a little, out of the 
regular course. I have heard, sir, that you were made com- 
mander for cutting out some coasters in the beginning of 
the war.” 

“ You have not been misinformed ; and a devil of a risk we 
all ran. Luck saved us — and that was all. One more fire from 
a cursed carronade would have given a Flemish account of the 
whole party ; for, once get a little under, and you suffer like 
game in a batteau .” Captain Cuffe wished to say battue ; but 
despising foreign languages, he generally made sad work with 
them, whenever he did condescend to resort to their terms, 
however familiar. “This Raoul Yvard is a devil incarnate, 
himself, at this boarding work ; and is said to have taken off 
the head of a master’s mate of the Theseus with one clip of his 
sword, when he retook that ship’s prize, in the affair of last 
winter — that which happened off Alicant !” 

“ I’ll warrant you, sir, the master’s mate was some slender- 
necked chap, that might better have been at home, craning at 
the girls, as they come out of a church-door. I should like to 
see Raoul Yvard, or any Frenchman who was ever born, take 
off my head at a single clip !” 

“ Well, Winchester, to be frank with you, I should not. You 


WING-AND-WING, 


147 


are a good first ; and that is an office in which a man usually 
wants all the head he has ; and I’m not at all certain you have 
any to spare. I wonder if one could not hire a felucca, or 
something larger than a boat, in this place, by means of which 
we could play a trick upon this fellow, and effect our purpose 
quite as well as by going up to him in our open boats, bull-dog 
fashion ?” 

“ No question of it at all, sir ; Griffin says there are a dozen 
feluccas in port here, all afraid to budge an inch, in consequence 
of this chap’s being in the offing. Now one of these trying to 
slip along shore might just serve as a bait for him, and then he ‘ 
would be famously hooked.” 

“ I think I have it, Winchester. You understand ; we have 
not yet been seen to communicate with the town ; and luckily, 
our French colors have been flying all the morning. Our head, 
too, is in-shore ; and we shall drift so far to the eastward, in a 
few minutes, as will shut in our hull, if not our upper sails, from 
the lugger, where she now lies. As soon as this is done, you 
shall be off, with forty picked men, for the shore. Engage a 
felucca, and come out, stealing along the rocks, as close as you 
can, as if distrusting us. In due time, we will chase you in the 
boats ; and then you must make for the lugger for protection, 
as fast as you can, when, betwixt the two, I’ll answer for it, you 
get this Master Yvard, by fair means or foul.” 

Winchester was delighted with the scheme ; and in less than 
five minutes, orders were issued for the men to be detailed and 
armed. Then a conference was held, as to all the minor 
arrangements ; when, the ship having become shut in from the 
lugger by the promontory, as expected, the boats departed. 
Half an hour later, or just as the Proserpine, after wearing, had 
got near the point where the lugger would be again open, the 
boats returned, and were run up. Presently the two vessels 
were again in sight of each other, everything on board of each 
remaining apparently in statu quo. Thus far, certainly, the 
stratagem had been adroitly managed. To add to it, the 
batteries now fired ten or twelve guns at the frigate, taking very 


148 


WING-AND-WING. 


good care not to hit her ; which the Proserpine returned, under 
the French ensign, having used the still greater precaution of 
drawing the shot. All this was done by an arrangement 
between Winchester and Andrea Barrofaldi, and with the sole 
view to induce Raoul Yvard to fancy that he was still believed 
to be an Englishman by the worthy vice-governatore, while the 
ship in the offing was taken for an enemy. A light air from 
the southward, which lasted from eight to nine o’clock, allowed 
the frigate to get somewhat more of an offing the while, placing 
her seemingly beyond the reach of danger. 

During the prevalence of the light air mentioned, Raoul 
Yvard did not see lit to stir tack or sheet, as it is termed, 
among seamen. Le Feu-Follet remained so stationary, that, 
had she been set by compass from any station on the shore, her 
direction would not have varied a degree the whole time. But 
this hour of comparative breeze sufficed to enable Winchester to 
get out of the harbor with la Divina Providenza, the felucca he 
had hired, and to round the promontory, under the seeming 
protection of the guns by which it was crowned ; coming in 
view of the lugger precisely as the latter relieved her man at the 
helm for ten o’clock. There were eight or nine men visible on 
the felucca’s deck, all dressed in the guise of Italians, with caps 
and striped shirts of cotton. Thirty-live men were concealed in 
the hold. 

Thus far everything was favorable to the wishes of Captain 
Cuffe and his followers. The frigate was about a league from 
the lugger, and half that distance from la Divina Providenza ; 
the latter had got fairly to sea, and was slowly coming to a 
situation from which it might seem reasonable, and a matter of 
course, for the Proserpine to send boats in chase ; while the 
manner in which she gradually drew nearer to the lugger was 
not such as to excite distrust, or to appear in the least designed. 
The wind, too, had got to be so light as to favor the whole 
scheme. 

It is not to be supposed that Raoul Yvard and his followers 
were unobservant of what was passing. It is true, that the 


WIN G-AND-WING, 


149 


latter wilfully protracted his departure, under the pretence that 
it was safer to have his enemy in sight during the day, knowing 
how easy it would he to elude him in the dark ; but, in reality, 
that he might prolong the pleasure of having Ghita on board ; 
and it is also true, that he had passed a delightful hour, that 
morning, in the cabin ; but, then, his understanding eye noted 
the minutest fact that occurred, and his orders were always 
ready to meet any emergency that might arise. Very different 
was the case with Ithuel. The Proserpine was his bane ; and, 
even while eating his breakfast, which he took on the heel of 
the bowsprit, expressly with that intent, his eye was seldom a 
minute off the frigate, unless it was for the short period she was 
shut in by the land. It w 7 as impossible for any one in the lugger 
to say wdiether her character was or was not known in Porto 
Ferrajo ; but the circumstance of the blue-lights burnt in the 
government-house itself, and witnessed by Ithuel, rendered the 
latter, to say the least, probable, and induced more caution than 
might otherwise have been shown. Still, there was no reason 
to suspect the character of the felucca ; and the confident 
manner in which she came down towards the lugger, though 
considerably in-shore of her, gave reason to believe that she , at 
least, was ignorant that le Feu-Follet was an enemy. 

“ That felucca is the craft which lay near the landing,” quietly 
observed Raoul, who had now come on the forecastle with a view 
to converse with Ithuel ; “ her name is la Divina Providenza ; 
she is given to smuggling between Leghorn and Corsica, and is 
probably bound to the latter at this moment. It is a bold step, 
too, to stand directly for her port under such circumstances !” 

“ Leghorn is a free port,” returned Ithuel ; “ and smuggling 
is not needed.” 

“ Aye, free as to friends, but not free to come and go, between 
enemies. No port is free, in that sense; it being treason for a 
craft to communicate with the foe, unless she happen to be le 
Feu-Follet,” observed Raoul, laughing ; “ w r e are privileged, 
mon brave /” 

“ Corsica or Capraya, she’ll reach neither to-day, unless she 


150 


WIN6-AND-WING. 


find more wind. I do not understand why the man has sailed 
with no more air than will serve to blow out a pocket-hand- 
kerchief.” 

“ These little feluccas, like our little lugger, slip along even 
when there seems to be no wind at all. Then, he may be bound 
to Bastia ; in which case he is wise in getting an offing before 
the zephyr sets in for the afternoon. Let him get a league or 
two out here, more to the northwest, and he can make a straight 
wake to Bastia, after his siesta is over.” 

“ Aye, there go those greedy Englishmen a’ter him !” said 
Ithuel ; “ it’s as I expected ; let ’em see the chance of making a 
guinea, and they’ll strive for it, though it be ag’in law or ag’in 
natur’. Now, what have they to do with a Neapolitan felucca, 
England being a sworn friend of Naples ?” 

Raoul made no reply to this, but stood watching the move- 
ment in silence. The reader will readily enough understand 
that Ithuel’s remark w T as elicited by the appearance of the boats, 
which, five in number, at that instant pulled off from the frigate’s 
side, and proceeded steadily towards the felucca. 

It may be necessary now to mention the relative positions of 
the parties, the hour, and the precise state of the weather, with 
a view to give the reader clear ideas of the events that succeeded. 
Le Feu-Follet had not materially changed her place, since her 
jib-sheet was first hauled over. She still lay about a league, a 
little north-of-west, from the residence of Andrea Barrofaldi, 
and in plain view of it ; a deep bay being south of her, and 
abeam. No alterations had been made in her canvas or her 
helm ; most of the first being still in the brails, and the latter 
down. As the head of the frigate had been kept to the west- 
ward for the last hour, she had forged some distance in that 
direction, and was now quite as near the lugger as was. the 
promontory, though near two miles off* the land. Her courses 
were hauled up, on account of the lightness of the air ; but all 
her upper-sails stood, and were carefully w atched and trimmed, 
in order to make the most of the cats’-paws, or rather of the 
breathings of the atmosphere, which occasionally caused the 


WING-AND-WING. 


151 


royals to swell outward. On the whole, she might he drawing 
nearer to the lusher at the rate of about a knot in an hour. 
La Divina Providenza was just out of gun-shot from the frigate, 
and about a mile from the lugger, when the boats shoved off 
from the former, though quite near the land, just opening the 
bay so often named. The boats, of course, were pulling in a 
straight line from the vessel they had just left, towards that of 
which they were in pursuit. 

As to the time, the day had advanced as far as eleven, which 
is a portion of the twenty-four hours when the Mediterranean, 
in the summer months, is apt to be as smooth as a mirror, and 
as calm as if it never knew a tempest. Throughout the morning, 
there had been some irregularity in the currents of air ; the 
southerly breeze, generally light, and frequently fickle, having 
been even more light and baffling than common. Still, as has 
been seen, there was sufficient air to force a vessel through the 
water ; and, had Raoul been as diligent as the people of the 
two other craft, he might, at that moment, have been off the 
western end of the island, and far out of harm’s way. As it was, 
he had continued watching the result, but permitting all the 
other parties gradually to approach him. 

It must be allowed that the ruse of the felucca was well 
planned ; and it now seemed about to be admirably executed. 
Had it not been for Itliuel’s very positive knowledge of the 
ship — his entire certainty of her being his old prison, as he 
bitterly called her, it is not improbable that the lugger’s crew 
might have been the dupe of so much well acted ingenuity ; and 
as it was, opinions were greatly divided, Raoul himself being 
more than half disposed to fancy that his American ally, for once, 
was wrong, and that the ship in sight was actually what she 
professed to be — a cruiser of the republic. 

Both Winchester, who was in la Divina Providenza, and 
Griffin who commanded the boats, played their parts in perfec- 
tion. They understood too well the character of the wily and 
practised foe with whom they had to deal, to neglect the smallest 
of the details of their well concerted plan. Instead of heading 


152 


WING-AND-WING. 


* 


towards the lugger, as soon as the chase commenced, the felucca 
appeared disposed to enter the bay, and to find an anchorage 
under the protection of a small battery that had been planted, 
for this express purpose, near its head. But the distance was 
so great as obviously to render such an experiment bootless ; 
and, after looking in that direction a few minutes, the head of la 
Divina Providenza was laid off shore, and she made every 
possible effort to put herself under the cover of the lugger. All 
this was done in plain view of Raoul, whose glass was constantly 
at his eye, and who studied the smallest movement with jealous 
distrust. Winchester, fortunately for his purpose, was a dark- 
complexioned man, of moderate stature, and with bushy whiskers 
such as a man-of-wars-man is apt to cultivate, on a long cruise • 
and, in his red Phrygian cap, striped shirt, and white cotton 
trowsers, he looked the Italian as well as could have been 
desired. The men in sight, too, had been selected for their 
appearance, several of them being actually foreigners, born on 
the shores of the Mediterranean ; it being seldom, indeed, that 
the crew of an English, or an American vessel of war, does not 
afford a representation of half the maritime nations of the earth. 
These men exhibited a proper degree of confusion and alarm, 
too ; running to and fro, as soon as the chase became lively ; 
exerting themselves, but doing it without order and concert. 
At length, the wind failing almost entirely, they got out 
two sweeps, and began to pull lustily ; the real as well as 
the apparent desire being to get as near as possible to the 
lugger. 

“ Peste /” exclaimed Raoul ; “ all this seems right — what if 
the frigate should be French, after all. These men in the boats 
look like my brave compatriotes 1” 

“They are regular John Bulls,” answered Ithuel, positively, 

“ and the ship is the spiteful Proserpyne,” for so the New Hamp- 
shire man always called his old prison. “ As for them French 
hats, and the way they have of rowing, they act it all for a take- 
in. Just let a six-pound shot in among 'em, and see how they’ll 
throw off their French airs, and take to their English schooling.” 


WING-AND-WINC. 


153 


“ I’ll not do that ; for we might injure a friend. What are 
those fellows in the felucca about, now ?” 

u Why, they’ve got a small gun — yes, it’s a twelve-pound 
carronade, under the tarpaulin, for’rard of their foremast, and 
they’re clearin’ it away for sarvice. We shall have something 
doin’ ’fore the end of the week !” 

“ Bien — it is as you say — and, voila, they train the piece on 
the boats !” 

As this was said, the felucca was half concealed in smoke. 
Then came the discharge of the gun. The shot was seen skip- 
ping along the water, at a safe distance from the leading boat, 
certainly, and yet sufficiently near to make it pass for indifferent 
gunnery. This leading boat was the Proserpine’s launch, which 
carried a similar carronade on its grating, forward, and not half 
a minute was suffered to pass, before the fire was returned. So 
steady were the men, and so nicely were all parts of this plot 
calculated, that the shot came whistling through the air in a 
direct line for the felucca, striking its mainyard about half-way 
between the mast and the peak of the sail, letting the former 
down by the run. 

“ Human natur’ !” ejaculated Ithuel — “ this is acting up 
to the contract, dollars and cents ! Captain Rule, they shoot 
better in sport than when they’re in downright airnest.” 

“ This looks like real work,” answered Raoul. “ A man does 
not often shoot away the mainyard of his friend on purpose.” 

As soon as the crews of the boats saw the end of the yard 
come down, they ceased rowing, and gave three hearty cheers, 
taking the signal from Griffin, who stood erect in the stern of 
the launch, to give it. 

“Bah !” — cried Raoul — “ these are English John Bulls, 'with- 
out a shadow of doubt. Who ever knew the men of the 
republic shout like so many Italian fantoccini, pulled by wires ! 
Ah ! Messieurs les Anglais, you have betrayed your secret by 
your infernal throats ; now look to hear us tell the remainder of 
the story.” 

Ithuel rubbed his hands with delight, perfectly satisfied that 

1 * 


154 


WING-AND-WING. 


Raoul could no longer be deceived, though the tire between the 
felucca and the launch was kept up with spirit, the shooting 
being such !is might have done credit to a bond fide conflict. 
All this time the sweeps of the felucca were plied, the boats 
advancing at least two feet to the chase’s one. La Divina 
Providenza might now have been three hundred yards from the 
lugger : and the launch, the nearest of the pursuers, about the 
same distance astern of the felucca. Ten minutes more would 
certainly bring the seeming combatants alongside of each other. 

Raoul ordered the sweeps of le Feu-Follet to be run out and 
manned. At the same time, her guns, twelve-pound carronades, 
were cast loose, and primed. Of these she had four of a side, 
while the two sixes on her forecastle were prepared for similar 
service. When everything was ready, the twelve sweeps drop- 
ped into the water, as by a common instinct, and a powerful 
effort started the lugger ahead. Her jib and jigger were both 
brailed at that instant. A single minute sufficed to teach Win- 
Chester how hopeless pursuit would be in the felucca, if not in 
the boats themselves, should the lugger endeavor to escape in 
this manner ; it being quite practicable for her strong crew to 
force her through the water, by means of her sweeps alone, 
from three to three and a half knots in the hour. But flight 
did not appear to be her object ; for her head was laid towards 
la Divina Providenza, as if, deceived by the artifice of the 
English, she intended to prevent the capture of the felucca, and 
to cover a friend. 

Raoul, however, understood himself far better than this suppo- 
sition would give reason to suppose. He swept the lugger up 
in a line with la Divina Providenza and the boats, in the first 
place, as the position in which she would be the least likely to suffer 
from the fire of the latter ; w T ell knowing that whatever shot 
were thrown, were purposely sent so high as to do no mischief ; 
and in the second place, that he might bring his enemies in a 
single range from his own guns. In the meanwhile, the felucca 
and the boats not only continued to use their carronades, but 
they commenced on both sides a brisk fire of musketry ; the 


WING-AND-WING. 


155 


former being now distant only a hundred yards from le Feu- 
Follet, exceedingly hard pressed by her adversaries, so far as 
appearances were concerned. There being no wind at all, at 
this juncture, the little there had been having been entirely 
killed by the concussions of the guns, the sea was getting 
to be fast covered with smoke ; the felucca, in particular, show- 
ing more than common of the wreathy canopy over her decks 
and about her spars ; for in truth, powder was burnt in consider- 
able quantities, in different parts of the vessel, with this express 
object. Ithuel observed, too, that in the midst of this confu- 
sion and cloud, the crew of la Divina Providenza was 
increasing in numbers, instead of diminishing by the combat, 
four sweeps next being out, each manned by three men 5 while 
near twenty more were shortly visible, running to and fro, and 
shouting to each other in a language that was intended to be 
Italian, but which sounded much more, in his practised ears, 
like bastard English. The felluca was not fifty yards distant, 
when this clamor became the loudest ; and the crisis was near. 
The cheers of the boats on the other side of her proclaimed the 
quick approach of Griffin and his party ; the bows of la Divina 
Providenza having been laid, in a species of blind haste, directly in 
a line which would carry her athwart-hawse of le Feu-Follet. 

“ Mes enfans ,” — shouted Raoul — “ soyez calmes — Fire !” 

The whole of the five guns, loaded heavily with canister, 
were discharged into the smoke of la Divina Providenza. The 
shrieks that succeeded, sufficiently proclaimed with what effect. 
A pause of solemn, wondering silence followed, on the part of 
the English ; and then arose a manly shout, as if, prepared for 
every contingency, they were resolved to brave the worst. The 
boats were next seen coming round the bows and stern of the 
felucca, dashing earnestly at their real enemy, while their two 
carronades returned the fire, this time loaded and aimed with 
deadly intent. But it was too late for success. As Griffin in 
the launch came out of la Divina Providenza’s smoke, he saw 
the lugger’s sails all opened, and filled with the dying effort of 
the southerly air. So light, however, was le Feu-Follet, that 


156 


WING-AND-WING. 




a duck could hardly have sailed away more readily from 
the fowler, than this little craft shot ahead, clearing the 
smoke, and leaving her pursuers an additional hundred yards 
behind her. As the air seemed likely to stand long enough to 
place his party in extreme jeopardy, under the fire of the French, 
Winchester promptly ordered the boats to relinquish the pursuit, 
and to rally round the felucca. This command was reluctantly 
obeyed, when a moment was given to both sides for deliberation. 

Le Feu-Follet had sustained no injury worth mentioning ; but 
the English had not less than a dozen men slain or hurt. 
Among the latter was Winchester himself ; and as he saw that 
any success which followed would fall principally to the share of 
his subordinate, his wound greatly indisposed him to pursue 
any further a struggle that was nearly hopeless as it was. Not 
so with Raoul Yvard, however. Perceiving that the frigate had 
taken the breeze as well as himself, and that she was stealing 
along in the direction of the combatants, he determined to 
take an ample revenge for the audacity of the attempt, and then 
proceed on his voyage. 

The lugger accordingly tacked, and passed to windward of 
the felucca, delivering a close and brisk fire as she approached. 
At first this fire was returned, but the opposition soon ceased ; 
and when le Feu-Follet ranged up past her adversary, a few 
yards to windward, it was seen that the English had deserted 
her to a man, carrying off their wounded. The boats were pull- 
ing through the smoke, towards the bay, taking a direction 
opposite to that in which the lugger’s head was laid. It would 
have been easy for the French to wear, and probably to have 
overtaken the fugitives, sinking or capturing them to a man ; 
but there was a touch of high chivalry in the character of Raoul 
Yvard, and he declared that as the artifice had been ingenious- 
ly planned, and daringly attempted, he would follow up his 
success no further. Perhaps the appearance of Ghita on deck, 
imploring him to be merciful, had its influence ; it is certain 
that not another shot did he allow to be fired at the enemy. 
Instead of pursuing her advantage in this manner, the lugger 


WING-AND-WING. 


157 


took in her after-sails, wore short round on her heel, came to the 
wind to leeward of the felucca, shivered all forward, set her jig- 
ger again, and luffed up so near what may be called the prize, 
that the two vessels came together so gently as not to break an 
egg, as it is termed. A single rope secured the felucca to the lug- 
ger, and Raoul, Ithuel, and a few more, stepped on board the 
former. 

The decks of la Divina Providenza were reeking with blood ; 
and grape and canister were sticking in handfuls, in different 
parts of the vessel. Three dead bodies were found in her hold, 
but nothing having life was met with on board. There was a 
tar-bucket filled at hand, and this was placed beneath the hatch, 
covered with all the combustible materials that could be laid 
hold of, and set on fire. So active were the flames, at that dry 
season, that Raoul regretted he had not taken the precaution to 
awaken them after he had removed his own vessel ; but the 
southerly air continuing, he was enabled to get to a safe distance 
before they actually ascended the felucca’s rigging, and seized 
upon her sails. 

Ten minutes were thus lost, and they had sufficed to carry 
the boats out of gunshot, in shore, and to bring the frigate 
very nearly down within gunshot from the south-east. But, 
hauling aft all his sheets, Raoul soon took the lugger clear of 
her flaming prize ; and then she stood towards the west end of 
Elba, going, as usual, in so light an air, three feet to the frigate’s 
two. The hour, however, was not favorable to the continuance 
of the breeze, and in ten more minutes it would have puzzled 
the keenest senses to have detected the slightest current of air 
over the surface of the sea. Such flickerings of the lamp before 
it burnt entirely out, were common, and Raoul felt certain that 
there would be no more wind that day, until they got the zephyr. 
Accordingly, he directed all the sails to be hauled up, an awn- 
ing to be spread over the quarter-deck, and permission was given 
to the people to attend to their own affairs. The frigate, too, 
seemed to be aware that it was the moment for the siesta of 
vessels as well as of men ; for she clewed up her royals and 


158 


WING-AND-WING. 


top-gall ant-sails, brailed ber jib and spanker, hauled up her 
courses, and lay on the water as motionless as if sticking on a 
shoal. The two vessels were barely long gunshot apart, 
and, under ordinary circumstances, the larger might have seen 
fit to attack the smaller in boats ; but the lesson just given was 
a sufficient pledge to the French against the renewal of any 
such attempt, and they scarcely paid their neighbor’s prowess 
the compliment to watch him. Half an hour later, when 
Winchester got back to the ship, limping with a hurt in his leg 
and with his people exhausted and mortified, it was found that 
the undertaking had cost the lives of seven good men, besides 
the temporary suspension of the services of fifteen more. 

Captain Cuffe was aware that his enterprise had failed, as 
soon as he perceived the lugger under her canvas, playing 
around the felucca, and the boats held in perfect command. 
But, when he discovered the latter pulling for the shore, he was 
certain that they must have suffered, and he was prepared to 
learn a serious loss, though not one that bore so large a propor- 
tion to the whole numbers of the party sent on the expedition. 
Winchester he considerately declined questioning while his 
wound was being dressed ; but Griffin was summoned to his 
cabin, as soon as the boats were hoisted in and stowed. 

“ Well, Mr. Griffin, a d d pretty scrape is this into 

which you have led me, among you, with your wish to go boat- 
ing about after luggers and Raoul Yvards ! What will the 
admiral say, when he comes to hear of twenty-two men’s being 
laid on the shelf, and a felucca to be paid for, as a morning’s 
amusement ?” 

“ Really, Captain Cuffe, we did our best ; but a man might 
as well have attempted to put out Vesuvius with snow-balls as 
to stand the canister of that infernal lugger ! I don’t think 
there was a square yard in the felucca that was not peppered. 
The men never behaved better ; and down to the moment when 
we last cheered, I was as sure of le Feu-Follet as I ever was of 
my own promotion.” 

“ Aye, they needn’t call her le Few-Folly any longer — the 


WING-AND-WIN6, 


159 


Great-Folly being a better name. What tbe devil did you 
cheer for at all, sir ? did you ever know a Frenchman cheer in 
your life ? That very cheering was the cause of your being 
found out before you had time to close. You should have 
shouted vive la rtpublique , as all their craft do when w r e engage 
them. A regular English hurrah would split a Frenchman’s 
throat.” 

“ I believe we did make a mistake there, sir ; but I never 
was in an action in which we did not cheer ; and when it got 
to be warm — or to seem warm — I forgot myself a little. But 
we should have had her, sir, for all that, had it not been for one 
thing.” 

“And what is that, pray? You know, Griffin, I must have 
something plausible to tell the admiral ; it will never do to 
have it published in the gazette that we were thrashed by our 
own hallooing.” 

“ I was about to say, Captain Cuffe, that had not the lugger 
fired her first broadside just as she did, and had she given us 
time to get out of the range of her shot, we should have come 
in upon her before she could have loaded again, and carried her, 
in spite of the breeze that so much favored her. Our having 
three men hurt in the launch made some difference, too, and 
set as many oars catching crabs, at a most critical instant. 
Everything depends on chance in these matters, you know, sir, 
and that was our bad luck.” 

“ Umph ! It Avill never do to tell Nelson that. 4 Everything 
was going well, my lord, until three of the launch’s people went 
to work catching crabs with their oars, which threw the boat 
a-stern.’ No, no, that will never do for a gazette. Let me see, 
Griffin ; after all, the lugger made off' from you ; you would 
have had her had she not made sail, and stood to the southward 
and westward on a bowline.” 

“ Yes, sir, she certainly did that. Had she not made sail 
as you say, nothing could have prevented our getting alongside.” 

“ Well, then, she ran. Wind sprung up, enemy made sail — 
every attempt to get alongside unsuccessful. Brave fellows, cheer- 


160 


WING-AND-WING, 


ing and doing their utmost. Not so bad an account, after all, but, 

how about that d d felucca? — You see, she is burned to the 

water’s edge, and will go down in a few minutes.” 

“ Very true, Captain Cuffe, but not a Frenchman entered her 
while we were there — ” 

“ Yes, I now see how it was — threw all hands into the boats, 
in chase, the felucca being too unwieldy, and every effort to get 
.alongside unsuccessful. He’s a devil of a fellow, that Nelson 
and Bronte ; and I had rather hear the thunder of ten thousand 
tempests, then get one of his tempestuous letters. Well, I think 
I understand the affair now, and shall speak of you all as you 
deserve. ’Twas a gallant thing, though it failed. You deserved 
success, whatever may have caused you to lose it.” 

In this Captain Cuffe was nearer right than in anything else 
he uttered on the occasion. 


« 




WING-AND-WING. 


161 


CHAPTER X. 


“Oh ! ’tis a thought sublime, that man can force 
A path upon the waste, can find a way 
Where all is trackless, and compel the winds, 

Those freest agents of Almighty power, 

To lend their untamed wings, and bear him on 
To distant climes.” 

Ware. 

The situation of Ghita Caraccioli, on board the lugger, was 
of the most unpleasant nature, during the fierce struggle we 
have related. Fortunately for her, this struggle was very short, 
Raoul having kept her in profound ignorance of the approach 
of any danger, until the instant le Feu-Follet commenced her 
fire. It is true she heard the guns between the felucca and the 
boats, but this she had been told was an affair in which the pri- 
vateer had no participation ; and the reports sounding distant 
to one in the cabin, she had been easily deceived. While the 
actual conflict was going on, she was on her knees, at the side 
of her uncle ; and the moment it ceased, she appeared on deck, 
and interposed to save the fugitives in the manner related. 

Now, however, the scene was entirely changed. The lugger 
had escaped all damage worthy of notice ; her decks had not 
been stained with blood ; and her success had been as complete 
as could be desired. In addition to these advantages, the result 
removed all apprehension from the only source of danger that 
Raoul thought could exist as between his own vessel and the 
frigate, of a boat-attack in a calm ; for men who had just been 
so roughly handled in an enterprise so well concealed, would not 
be likely to renew the attempt while they still smarted under 
the influence of the late repulse. Affairs of this sort exact all 
the discipline and resolution that a well regulated service can 


162 


WIN G-AND - WING. 


afford ; and are not to be thought of under the temporary demo- 
ralization of defeat. All in the lugger, therefore, considered 
this collision with the Proserpine at an end, for the moment 
at least. 

Ghita had dined, for the day had now turned some time, and the 
girl had come on deck to escape the confinement of a very small 
cabin, leaving her uncle to enjoy his customary siesta. She was 
seated under the awning of the quarter-deck, using her needle, 
as w r as her wont, at that hour, on the heights of Argentaro. 
Raoul had placed himself on a gun-slide, near her, and Ithuel 
was busy within a few feet of them, dissecting a spy-glass, with 
a view to clean its lenses. 

i 

“ I suppose the most excellent Andrea Barrofaldi will sing a 
Te Deum for his escape from our fangs,” suddenly exclaimed 
Raoul, laughing. “ Pardie ! he is a great historian, and every 
way fit to write an account of this glorious victory, which Mon- 
sieur V Anglais, la bas, is about to send to his government !” 

“And you, Raoul, have no occasion for a Te Deum after 
your escape ?” demanded Ghita, gently, and yet with emphasis. 
“ Is there no God for you to thank, as well as for the vice-gover- 
natore ?” 

“ Peste ! — our French deity is little thought of just now, 
Ghita. Republics, as you know, have no great faith in religion 
— is it not so, mon brave American ? Tell us, Etooel ; have you 
any religion in America ?” 

As Ithuel had often heard Raoul’s opinions on this subject, 
and knew the prevailing state of France in this particular, 
he neither felt nor expressed any surprise at the question. 
Still, the idea ran counter to all his own notions and prejudices, 
he having been early taught to respect religion, even when 
he was most serving the devil. In a word, Ithuel was one of 
those descendants of Puritanism who, “ Godward,” as it is 
termed, w T as quite unexceptionable, so far as his theory extended, 
but w T ho, “ manward,” was “ as the Scribes and Pharisees.” 
Nevertheless, as he expressed it himself, “ he always stood up for 
religion a fact that his English companions had commented 


WIN 6- AND-WIN G. 


163 


on in jokes ; maintaining that he even “ stood up” when the rest 
of the ship’s company were on their knees. 

“ I’m a little afraid, Monsieur Rule,” he answered, “ that in 
France you have entered the rope of republicanism at the wrong 
end. In Ameriky, we even put religion before dollars ; and if 
that isn’t convincing I’ll give it up. Now, I do wish you could 
see a Sunday once in the Granite state, Signorina Ghita, that 
you might get some notion what our western religion ra’ally is.” 
“All real religion — all real devotion to God, is, or ought 
to be, the same, Signor Ithuello, whether in the east or in 
the west. A Christian is a Christian, let him live or die where 
he may.” 

“ That’s not exactly platform, I fancy. Why, Lord bless ye, 
young lady, your religion, now, is no more like mine than 
my religion is like that of the Archbishop of Canterbury’s, 
or Monsieur Rule’s, here !” 

“ La mienne !” exclaimed Raoul — “ I pretend to none, mon 
brave ; there can be no likeness to nothing.” 

Ghita’s glance was kind, rather than reproachful ; but it was 
profoundly sorrowful. 

“ In what can our religion differ,” she asked, “ if we are both 
Christians ? Americans or Italians, it is all the same.” 

“ That comes of knowing nothing about Ameriky,” said 
Ithuel, filled with the conceit of his own opinion of himself, and 
of the part of the world from which he came. “ In the first 
place, you have a Pope, and cardinals, and bishops, and all such 
things in your religion, while we have none.” 

u Certainly, there is the Holy Father, and there are cardinals ; 
but they are not my religion,” answered Ghita, looking sur- 
prised. “ Bishops, it is true, are appointed of God, and form part 
of his church ; and the bishop of Rome is the head of the 
church on earth, but nothing more !” 

“ Nothing more 1 — Don’t you worship images, and take off 
and put on garments at your prayers, and kneel down in a 
make-believe, profane away : and don’t you turn everything into 
vain ceremonies !” 


164 


WING-AND-WING. 


Had Ithuel been engaged, body and soul, in maintaining one 
of the propositions of the Oxford Tracts’ controversy, he could 
not have uttered these words with greater zeal, or with a more 
self-righteous emotion. His mind was stored with the most 
vulgar accusations of an exceedingly vulgar set of sectarian dis- 
tinctions ; and he fancied it a high proof of Protestant perfec- 
tion, to hold all the discarded usages in abhorrence. On the 
other hand, Ghita listened with surprise ; for, to her, the estima- 
tion in which the rites of the Roman church are held by 
the great bulk of Protestants, was a profound secret. The idea 
of worshipping an image never crossed her innocent mind ; and 
although she often knelt before her own little ivory crucifix, she 
had never supposed any could be so ignorant as to confound the 
mere material representation of the sacrifice it was meant to 
portray, with the divine expiation itself. 

“ It is decent to use proper vestments at the altar,” she 
replied ; “ and its servants ought not to be clad like other men. 
We know it is the heart, the soul, that must be touched, to find 
favor with God ; but this does not make the outward semblance 
of respect that we show even to each other, the less necessary. 
As to worshipping images — that would be idolatry ; and as bad 
as the poor heathens themselves.” 

Ithuel looked mystified ; for he never doubted, in the least, 
that the worshipping of images was a material part of Catholic 
devotion ; and, as for the Pope and the cardinals, he deemed 
them all as indispensable to the creed of this church, as 
he fancied it important in his own that the priests should not wear 
gowns ; and that the edifices in which they worshipped should 
have square-topped windows. Absurd as all this may seem to- 
day, and wicked as it will probably appear a century hence, it 
formed, and forms, no small part of sectarian belief; and entered 
into the animosities and jealousies of those who seem to think it 
necessary to quarrel for the love of God. Could we but look 
back at our own changes of opinion, it would render us less con- 
fident of the justice of our sentiments ; and, most of all, one 
would think that the American who has lived long enough 


WING-AND-WING. 


165 


to witness the somersets that have been thrown in the practices 
and creeds of most of the more modern sects of his own country, 
within the last quarter of a century, would come to have something 
like a suitable respect for the more stable and venerable divisions 
of the Christian world. 

“ Proper vestments !” repeated Ithuel, with contempt ; u what 
vestments are wanting in the eyes of the Supreme Being ? No ; 
if I must have religion — and I know it’s necessary and whull- 
som’, let it be a pure, naked religion, that will stand to reason. 
Is not that your way of thinking, Monsieur Rule ?” 

“ Ma foij oui. Reason before all things, Ghita ; and, most 
of all, reason in religion.” 

“ Ah, Raoul ! this it is which misleads and betrays you,” 
returned the girl, earnestly. “ Faith, and a meek dependence, 
is what makes a proper state of feeling ; and yet you demand a 
reason of Him who created the U ni verse, and breathed into you 
the breath of life !” 

“Are we not reasoning creatures, Ghita,” returned Raoul, 
gently, and yet with a sincerity and truth, for the circumstances, 
that rendered even his scepticism piquant and respectable ; “ and 
is it unreasonable to expect us to act up to our natures ? Can 
I worship a God I do not understand ?” 

“ Could’st thou worship one thou did’st ? He would cease to 
be a deity, and would become one of ourselves, were his nature 
and attributes brought down to the level of our comprehensions. 
Did one of thy followers come on this quarter-deck, and insist 
on hearing all thine own motives for the orders given in this 
little felucca, how readily would’st thou drive him back as 
mutinous and insolent ; and yet thou would’st question the God 
of the universe, and pry into his mysteries !” 

Raoul was mute, while Ithuel stared. It was so seldom that 
Ghita lost her exceeding gentleness of manner, that the flush 
of her cheek, the severe earnestness of her eyes, the impassioned 
modulations of her voice, and the emphasis with which she 
spoke on this occasion, produced a sort of awe, that prevented 
the discourse from proceeding further. The girl, herself, was so 


166 


W I N G - A N D - W I N G . 


much excited, that, after sitting for a minute with her hands 
before her face, the tears were seen forcing their way through 
her fingers. She then arose, and darted into the cabin. Raoul 
was too observant of the rules of propriety to think of follow- 
ing ; but he sat moody and lost in thought, until Ithuel drew 
his attention to himself. 

“ Gals will be gals,” said that refined and philosophical 
observer of the human family, “ and nothing touches their natur’s 
sooner than a little religious excitement. I dare say, if it wasn’t 
for images, and cardinals, and bishops, and such creatur’s, the 
Italians (Ithuel always pronounced this word ifydalians) would 
make a very good sort of Christians.” 

But Raoul was in no humor to converse ; and as the hour 
had now arrived when the zephyr was to be expected, he rose, 
ordered the awning to be taken in, and prepared to make him- 
self master of the state of things around him. There lay the 
frigate, taking her siesta, like all near ; her three topsails stand- 
ing, but every other sail that was loose, hanging in festoons, 
waiting for the breeze. Notwithstanding her careless appear- 
ance, so closely had she been tended, for the last few hours, 
however, and so sedulously had even the smallest breath of air 
been improved, that Raoul started with surprise, when he found 
how much nearer she was than when he had last looked at her. 
The whole trick was apparent to him at a glance ; and he was 
compelled to acknowledge his own remissness, when he perceiv- 
ed that he lay within the reach of the shot of his powerful foe ; 
though still so distant as to render her aim a little uncertain, 
more especially should a sea get up. The felucca had burnt to 
the water’s edge ; but, owing to the smoothness of the water, 
her wreck still floated, and was slowly setting into the bay, there 
being a slight current in that direction, where she now lay. The 
town was basking in the afternoon’s sun, though hid from view, 
and the whole island of Elba had the appearance of being 
asleep. 

“ What a siesta !” said Raoul to Ithuel, as both stood on the 
heel of the bowsprit, looking curiously at the scene : “ sea, land, 


WING-AND-WING, 


167 


mountains, bourgeois and mariners all dozing. Bien ; there is 
life yonder at the west, and we must get further from votre 
Proserpine. Call the hands, Monsieur Lieutenant. Let us get 
our sweeps, and put the head of le Feu-Follet the other way. 
Peste ! the lugger is so sharp, and has such a trick of going 
exactly where she looks, that I am afraid she has been crawling 
up towards her enemy, as the child creeps into the fire that 
burns its fingers.” 

All hands were soon in motion on board le Feu-Follet, the 
sweeps were on the point of being handled, when the jigger flut- 
tered and the first puff of the expected western breeze swept 
along the surface of the waters. To the seamen, it was like 
inhaling oxygen gas. Every appearance of drowsiness deserted 
the people of both vessels, and every one was instantly busy in 
making sail. Raoul had a proof into what dangerous proximity 
to the frigate he had got, by the sound of the calls on board her ; 
and the stillness of the sea was yet so great, that the creaking 
of her fore-yard was actually audible to him, as the English 
rounded in their braces briskly, while laying their fore-top-sail 
aback. 

At that moment a second respiration of the atmosphere gave 
birth to the breeze. Raoul whistled for the wind, and the lug- 
ger moved ahead, gliding towards the frigate. But, in half a 
minute, she had gathered sufficient way, her helm was put down, 
and she came round as easily and as gracefully as the bird turns 
on his wing. Not so with the heavier frigate. She had haul- 
ed in her starboard head-braces, and had to get the fore topsail 
aback, and to pay well off with her head to leeward, in order 
to swing her yards and fill her sails, while le Feu-Follet was 
slipping through the water, going seemingly into the wind’s eye. 
By this single evolution, the lugger gained more than a cable’s 
length on her enemy, and five minutes more would have put her 
beyond all immediate danger. But Captain Cuffe knew this 
as well as his competitor, and had made his preparations accord- 
ingly. Keeping his head-yards aback, he knocked his ship 
round off, until her broadside bore on the lugger, when he let 


168 


W I N G - A X D - W I N G . 


fly every gun of his starboard batteries, the utmost care having 
been taken to make the shot tell. Twenty-two heavy round-shot 

% w 

coming in at once upon a little craft like le Feu-Follet, was a 
fearful visitation ; and, the “ boldest held their breath for a 
time," as the iron whirlwind whistled past them. Fortunately, 
the lugger was not hulled ; but a grave amount of mischief was 

V v v 

done aloft. The jigger-mast was cut in two, and flew upwards 
like a pipe-stem. A serious wound was given to the mainmast 
below the hounds, and the yard itself was shivered in the slings. 
No less than six shot plunged through both lugs, leaving holes 
in the canvas that made it resemble a beggar's shirt, and the 
iib-stav was cut in two, halt-wav between the mast-head and the 
end of the bowsprit. No one was hurt ; and yet, for a moment, 
every one looked as if destruction had suddenly lighted on the 
lugger. Then it was that Raoul came out in his true colors. 
He knew lie could not spare a stitch of canvas just at that 
moment, but that on the next ten minutes depended everything. 
Nothing was taken in, therefore, to secure spars and sails, but 
all was left to stand, trusting to the lightness of the breeze, 
which usually commenced very moderately. Hands were 

V V 

immediately set to work, to get up a new stay ; a new main- 
yard and sail were got along, and everything was prepared for 
hoisting both, as soon as it could be ascertained that the mast 

V 

would bear them. Nearly similar preparations were made for- 
ward. as the shortest wav of getting rid of the torn fore-sail : for 
that, it was the intention to unbend and bend, the yard being 
sound. 

Luckily, Captain Outfe determined to lose no more time with 
his guns, but swinging his head-yards, the frigate came sweep- 
ing up to the wind, and in three minutes everything was trim- 
med for the utmost. All this time, le Feu-Follet had not stood 
still. Her canvas fluttered, but it held on, and even the spars 
kept their places, though so much injured. In a word, the 
wind was not vet strong enough to tear the one, or to carry 
awav the other. It was an advantage, too. that these casualties, 

r C * 

particularly the loss of her jigger, rendered le Feu-Follet less 


169 


WING-AND-WING. 

• 

weatherly than she would otherwise have been, since by keep- 
ing the frigate directly in her wake, she was less exposed to the 
chase-guns than she would have been a little on either bow. 
Of this truth, Raoul was soon persuaded, the Proserpine begin- 
ning to work both her bow-guns, as soon as she came to the 
wind, though neither exactly bore ; the shot of one ranging a 
little to windward, and the other about as much on the other 
side. By these shot, too, the young Frenchman soon had the 
satisfaction of seeing that, notwithstanding her injuries, the lug- 
ger was drawing ahead ; — a fact of which the English became 
so sensible themselves, that they soon ceased firing. 

So far, things went better than Raoul had reason, at first, to 
hope, though he well knew that the crisis was yet to come. 
The westerly wind often blew fresh at that period of the day, 
and should it now increase he would require all his canvas to 
get clear of a ship with the known qualities of the vessel in 
chase. How much longer his mast or his main-yard would 
stand he did not know, but as he was fast gaining, he deter- 
mined to make hay while the sun shone, and get far enough 
ahead, if possible, before the breeze grew fresh, to enable him 
to shift his sails and fish his spars, without being again brought 
within the reach of visitors as rude as those who had so lately 
come hurtling into his thin hamper. The proper precautions 
were not neglected, in the meantime. Men were sent aloft to do 
what they could, under the circumstances, with the two spars ; 
and the strain was a little relieved by keeping the lugger as 
much away, as might be done without enabling the frigate to 
set her studding sails. 

There is always something so exciting in a chase, that seamen 

J o o 

never fail to wish for more "wind ; forgetful that the power 
which increases their own speed, may also increase the speed of 
the other party, and that too in an undue proportion. It would 
have been more favorable to le Feu-Follet to have had less 
wind than even now blew, since her relative rate of sailing was 
greater in light than in strong breezes. Raoul knew, from 
IthuM’s statements, that the Proserpine was an exceedingly fast 

8 



170 


WING-AND-WING. 


ship, more especially when it blew fresh ; and yet it did not 
appear to him that his lugger got along with sufficient speed, 
thou oil his enemy would be certain to follow at a rate of sailing 
in a just proportion to his own, did there come more wind. 

The wish of the young privateersman, however, was soon 
gratified. The wind freshened materially, and by the time the 
two vessels opened the Canal of Corsica, as the passage between 
that island and Elba is called, the frigate was obliged to take in 
her royals, and two or three of those fight and lofty staysails, 
which it was then the custom for ships to carry. At first, 
Raoul had thought he might fetch into Bastia, which lies due- 
w T est of the southern end of Elba ; but though the wind drew a 
little down through the canal, it soon blew too fresh to allow 
any formation of the land materially to alter its current. The 
zephyr, as the afternoon’s summer breeze of southern Italy, in 
particular, was termed by the ancients, is seldom a due-west 
wind, there generally being a little northing in it, as seamen say ; 
and, as one gets further up the coast, this same wind ordinarily 
comes round the head of Corsica, blowing from nearly west- 
north-west. This would have enabled the lugger to lay her 
course for a deep bay on which lies the town of Biguglia, could 
she have been jammed up on a wind, as might usually have 
been done ; but, a few minutes of experiment convinced Raoul 
that he must be more tender on his wounded spars, and keep 
off for the mouth of the Golo. This was a river of some size 
into which it was possible for a vessel of a fight draught to enter ; 
and, as there stood a small battery near the anchorage, he deter- 
mined to seek shelter in that haven, in order to repair his dama- 
ges. His calculations were made accordingly, and, taking the 
snow-clad peaks in the neighborhood of Corte as his land-marks, 
he ordered the lugger to be steered in the proper direction. 

On board the Proserpine, there was scarcely less interest felt 
in the result than on board le Feu-Follet. If the people of the 
frigate had nothing to apprehend, they had something to revenge ; 
in addition to the anticipated credit of having captured the 
boldest privateer that sailed out of France. For a short time, 


WING-AND-WING. 


Ill 


as the ship came up with the west end of Elba, it was a serious 
question whether she would be able to weather it, the lugger 
having gone past, within a cable’s length of the cliffs, on the very 
verge of the breakers, and much closer in than the frigate would 
dare to follow. But the last had taken the breeze further off the 
land than the first, and might possibly fetch past the promon- 
tory on the tack she Avas then steering. To have gone about, 
would have been to have abandoned the chase, as it Avould have 
carried the ship off due north, while le Feu-Follet was gliding 
down to the southward and westward at the rate of seven knots. 
The distance across the canal is only about thirty miles, and 
there would not have been time to recover the lost ground. 

This uncertainty made a most feverish moment on board the 
Proserpine, as she came up fast towards the headland. All 
depended on getting by without tacking. The appearances were 
favorable for deep water, close in ; but there is always the danger 
of rocks to be dreaded, near mountainous coasts. The promon- 
tory, too, was comparatively low ; and this was rather an indi- 
cation that it ought not to be approached too closely. Win- 
chester was in his berth, just beginning to feel the smart of his 
wound ; but Griffin was at the captain’s elbow, both he and the 
third lieutenant entering keenly into all their commander’s 
wishes and anxieties. 

“ There she goes, into the very breakers !” exclaimed Cuffe, 
as they watched le Feu-Follet in her attempt to pass the pro- 
montory ; “ Monsieur Yvard must be determined to cast away 
his craft rather than be taken. It will be touch and go with 
him.” 

“ I think not, Captain Cuffe,” answered Griffin ; “ the coast is 
bold hereabouts, and even the Proserpine would find sufficient 
Avater there, Avhere the lugger now is. I hope we shall not be 
obliged to tack, sir.” 

“ Aye, this is very Avell for an irresponsible — but, Avhen it got 
to a court, and punishment, I fear that all the last would fall on 
my shoulders, should his Majesty’s ship happen to lay her bones 
along-shore here. No, no, Griffin ; Ave must go a clear cable’s 


172 


WING-AND-WING. 


length to windward of that , or I go about, though Raoul Yvard 
were never taken.” 

“There, he fetches up, by George!” cried Yelverton, the 
youngest lieutenant ; and, for a moment, it was in truth believed 
in the frigate that le Feu-Follet, as a breaker actually curled 
directly under her lee, was aground. But this notion lasted a 
moment only, the little lugger continuing her course as swiftly 
as before ; and, a minute or two later, keeping a little away, to 
ease her spars, having been jammed up as close as possible, 
previously, in order to weather the extreme end of what w T as 
thought to be the dangerous point. The frigate was fully two 
miles astern ; and, instead of losing anything of her vantage- 
ground, she was kept so near the wind as to be occasionally touch- 
ing. This was the more safe, inasmuch as the sea was perfectly 
smooth, and the vessel made no lee way. Still the frigate 
looked, as it is termed, barely up to the point it was deemed 
indispensable to weather ; and as ships rarely “ do” better than 
they “ look,” it became a question of serious doubt on board the 
Proserpine, as she came up with the headland, whether she 
could clear it. 

“ I am afraid, Captain Cuffe, w r e shall never clear it with a 
good-enough berth, sir,” observed the fidgeting Griffin ; “ it 
seems to me the ship sets unaccountably to leeward to-day !” 

“ She never behaved better, Griffin. I am really in hopes 
there is a slight current off-shore, here ; if anything, we actually 
open the highlands of Corsica by this promontory. You see 
that the wreck of la Divina Providenza is sweeping round the 
bay, and is coming out to windward again.” 

“ That may serve us, indeed ! All ready in the chains, sir ! 
— shall we make a cast of the lead ?” 

Cuffe assented, and the lead was hove. At this moment the 
ship was going eight knots, and the man reported no bottom, 
with fifteen fathoms of line out. This was well ; and twfl or 
three subsequent casts confirmed it. Orders w^ere now given to 
drag every bowline, swig-off' on every brace, and flatten-in all 
the sheets. Even the halyards were touched, in order that the 


WING-AND-WING. 


113 


sails might stand like boards. The trying moment was near ; 

five minutes must decide the matter. 

» 

“ Let her shake a little, Mr. Yelverton, and eat into the wind,” 
said Cuffe, addressing the officer of the watch ; “ we must do 
all we can here ; for, when abreast of the breakers, everything 
must be a rap-full, to keep the ship under quick command. 
There — meet her with the helm, and give her a good full.” 

This experiment was repeated twice, and each time the frigate 
gained her length to windward, though she necessarily lost more 
than three times that distance in her velocity. At length the 
trial came, and a profound silence, one in which nervousness 
and anxiety were blended with hope, reigned in the vessel. 
The eyes of all turned from the sails to the breakers ; from the 
breakers to the sails ; and from both to the wake of the ship. 

At such moments the voice of the lead’s-man prevails over 
all other sounds. His warning cry is listened to with breathless 
attention when the songs of a siren would be unheard. Cast 
after cast was made, as the ship drove on, and the answer to 
Cuffe’s questions was uniformly, “no bottom, sir, with fifteen 
fathoms out but just at this instant arose the regular song 
from the weather main-chains, of “ by the mark seven !” This 
came so suddenly on the Captain’s ear, that he sprang upon the 
taffrail, where he could command a full view of all he wanted to 
see ; and then he called out, in a stentorian voice : 

“ Heave again, sir ! — be brisk, my lad ! — be brisk !” 

“ Be-e-e-ther-r-r-dee-e-e-eep six !” followed almost as soon as 
the Captain’s voice had ceased. 

“ Ready-about,” shouted Cuffe. “ See all clear, gentlemen. 
Move lively, men ; more lively.” 

“ And-a-a-eh half-ef-four — ” 

“ Stand by ! — What the devil are you at, sir, on that fore- 
castle ? — Are you ready, forward ?” 

“ All ready, sir — ” 

“ Down with your helm — hard down at once — ” 

“ Be-e-e-ther-r-r-dee-e-e-p nine — ” 

“ Meet her ! — up with your helm. Haul down your sheets, 


174 


WING-AND-WING. 


forward — brail the spanker — let go all the bowlines aft. So — 
well, there, well. She flew round like a top ; but, by Jove, we’ve 
caught her, gentlemen. Drag your bowlines again. What’s 
the news from the chains ?” 

“ No bottom, sir, with fifteen fathoms out — and as good a 
cast, too, sir, as we’ve had to-day.” 

“ So — you’re rap full — don’t fall off- — very well dyce” 
(. Anglice , thus) — u keep her as you are. Well, by the Lord, 
Griffin, that tv as a shave ; half-four was getting to be squally, in a 
quarter of the world where a rock makes nothing of pouting its 
lips fifteen or twenty feet at a time at a mariner. We are past it 
all, however, and here is the land, trending away to the south- 
ward, like a man in a consumption, fairly under our lee. A 

dozen Raoul Yvards wouldn't lead me into such a d d 

scrape again !” 

“ The danger that is over is no longer a danger at all, sir,” 
answered Griffin, laughing. “ Don't you think, Captain Cuffe, 
we might ease her about half a point ? that would be just her 
play ; and the lugger keeps off a little, I rather suspect, to ease 
her mainmast. I’m certain I saw chips fly from it when w r e 
dosed her with those two-and-twenty pills.” 

u Perhaps you’re right, Griffin. Ease her with the helm a 
little, Mr. Yelverton. If Master Yvard stands on his present 
course an hour longer, Biguglia would be too far to windward 
for him ; and as for Bastia, that has been out of the question 
from the first. There is a river called Golo, into which he 
might run ; and that, I rather think, is his aim. Four hours, 
however, will let us into his secret.” 

And four intensely interesting hours were those which suc- 
ceeded. The wind was a cap-full ; a good, fresh, westerly 
breeze, which seemed to have started out of the oven-like heat 
of a week of intensely hot weather that had preceded it, and to 
have collected the force of two or three zephyrs into one. It 
was not a gale at all, nor did it induce either party to think of 
reefing ; no trifle would have done that, under the circum- 
stances ; but it caused the Proserpine to furl her fore and 


W ING-AND-WING. 


i h ^ 

1 / o 

mizen-top-gall ant-sails, and put Raoul in better humor with 
the loss of his jigger. When fairly round the headland, and, at 
a moment when he fancied the frigate would be compelled to 
tack, the latter had seized an opportunity to get in his foresail, 
to unbend it, and to bend and set a new one ; an operation 

that took just four minutes by the watch. lie would have tried 

* 

the same experiment with the other lug, but the mast was 
scarce worth the risk, and he thought the holes might act as 
reefs, and thus diminish the strain. In these four hours, owing 
to the disadvantage under which le Feu-Follet labored, there 
was not a difference of half a knot in the distance run by the 
two vessels, though each passed over more than thirty miles of 
water. During this time they had been drawing rapidly nearer 
to the coast of Corsica, the mountains of which, ragged and 
crowned with nearly eternal snows, had been glittering in the 
afternoon’s sun, before them, though they lay many a long 
league inland. But the formation of the coast itself had now 
become plain, and Raoul, an hour before the sun disappeared, 
noted his landmarks, by which to make for the river he intended 
to enter. The eastern coast of Corsica is as deficient in bays 
and harbors as its western is affluent with them ; and this Golo, 
for which the lugger was shaping her course, would never have 
been thought of, as a place of shelter, under ordinary circum- 
stances. But Raoul had once anchored in its mouth, and he 
deemed it the very spot in which to elude his enemy. It had 
shoals off its embouchure ; and these, he- rightly enough fancied, 
would induce Captain Cuffe to be wary. 

As the evening approached the wind began to decrease in 
force, and then the people of the lugger lost all their apprehen- 
sions. The spars had all stood, and Raoul no longer hesitated 
about trusting his wounded mainmast with a new yard and sail. 
Both were got up, and the repairs were immediately com- 
menced. The superiority of the lugger, in sailing, was now so 
great as to put it out of all question that she was not to be 
overtaken in the chase ; and Raoul, at one time, actually thought 
of turning up along the land, and going into Bastia, where he 


176 


WING-AND-WIN6. 


might even provide himself with a new mainmast at need. But 
this idea, on reflection, he abandoned as too hazardous ; and he 
continued on in the direction of the mouth of the Golo. 

Throughout the day the Proserpine had shown no colors, 
except for the short period when her boats were engaged, and 
while she herself was firing at the lugger. The same was the 
fact with le Feu-Follet, though Raoul had run up the tri-color 
as he opened on the felucca, and he kept it flying as long as 
there was any appearance of hostilities. As the two vessels 
drew T in near to the land, several coasters were seen beating 
up against the westerly wind, or running down before it, all of 
which, however, seemed so much to distrust the appearance of 
the lugger, as to avoid her as far as was possible. This was a 
matter of indifference to our hero, who knew that they were all 
probably countrymen ; or, at least, smugglers, who would 
scarcely reward him for the trouble, had he time to bring them 
to, and capture them. Corsica was then, again, in the hands of 
the French, the temporary and imperfect possession of the Eng- 
lish having terminated three or four years earlier ; and Raoul 
felt certain of a welcome anywhere in the island, and of protec- 
tion wherever it could be offered. Such was the state of things 
when, just as the lugger was preparing to enter among the 
shoals, the Proserpine unexpectedly tacked, and seemed to 
bestow all her attention on the coasters, of which three or four 
were so near that two fell into her hands almost without an 
effort to escape. 

It appeared to Raoul, and those with him in his little craft, 

that the English seized these insignificant vessels solely with a 

wish for vengeance, since it was not usual for ships of the force 

of the Proserpine to turn aside to molest the poor fishermen and 

coasters. A few execrations followed, quite as a matter of 

course, but the intricacy of the channel and the necessity of 

having all his eyes about him, soon drove every other thought 

from the mind of the dashing privateersman, but such as were 

connected with the care and safety of his own vessel. 

%> 

Just as the sun set le Feu-Follet anchored. She had chosen 


WING-AND-WING. 


177 


a berth sufficiently within the shallow water to be safe from the 
guns of the frigate, though scarcely within the river. The 
latter the depth of the stream hardly permitted, though there 
was all the shelter that the season and weather required. The 
Proserpine manifested no intention to give up her pursuit ; for 
she, too, came .off the outlet, and brought up with one of her 
bowers about two miles to seaward of the lugger. She seemed 
to have changed her mind as to the coasters, having let both 
proceed after a short detention ; though, it falling calm, neither 
was enabled to get any material distance from her until the 
land-breeze should rise. In these positions the belligerents pre- 
pared to pass the night, each party taking the customary 
precautions as to his ground tackle, and each clearing up the 
decks and going through the common routine of duty as 
regularly as if he lay in a friendly port. 


8 * 


178 


WING-AND-WING. 


CHAPTER XI. 


“The human mind, that lofty thing, 

The palace and the throne. 

Where reason sits, a sceplred king, 

And breathes his judgment tone ; 

Oh ! who with silent step shall trace 
The borders of that haunted place, 

Nor in his weakness own, 

That mystery and marvel bind 
That lofty thing — the human mind! 

Anonymous. 


It is unnecessary to dwell on the glories of the Mediterranean. 
They are familiar to every traveller, and books have, again and 
again, laid them before the imaginations of readers of all 
countries and ages. Still, there are lights and shades peculiar 
to every picture, and this of ours hits some of its own that merit 
a passing notice. A sunset, in midsummer, can add to the 
graces of almost any scene. Such was the hour when Raoul 
anchored; and Ghita, who had come on deck, now that the 
chase was over, and the danger was thought to be past, fancied 
she had never seen her own Italy, or the blue Mediterranean, 
more lovely. 

The shadows of the mountains were cast far upon the sea, 
long ere the sun had actually gone down, throwing the witchery 
of eventide over the whole of the eastern coast, some time before 
it came to grace its western. Corsica and Sardinia resemble 
vast fragments of the Alps, which have fallen into the 
sea by some accident of nature, where they stand in sight of 
their native beds, resembling, as it might be, outposts to those 
great walls of Europe. Their mountains have the same 
formations, the same white peaks, for no small portion of the 
year at least, and their sides the same mysterious and riven 


4 


WING-AND-WING. 


179 


aspect. In addition, however, to their other charms, they have 
one that is wanting in most of Switzerland, though traces of it 
are to he found in Savoy and on the southern side of the Alps ; 
they have that strange admixture of the soft and the severe, of 
the sublime and beautiful, that so peculiarly characterize the 
witchery of Italian nature. Such was now the aspect of all 
visible from the deck of le Feu-Follet. The sea, with its dark- 
blue tint, was losing every trace of the western wind, and was 
becoming glassy and tranquil ; the mountains on the other side 
were solemn and grand, just showing their ragged outlines along 
a sky glowing with “the pomp that shuts the day;” while the 
nearer valleys and narrow plains were mysterious, yet soft, 
under the deep shadows they cast. Pianosa lay nearly opposite, 
distant some twenty miles, rising out of the water like a beacon ; 
Elba was visible to the north-east, a gloomy confused pile of 
mountain at that hour ; and Ghita once or twice thought she 
could trace on the coast of the main, the dim outline of her own 
hill, Monte Argentaro ; though the distance, some sixty or 
seventy miles, rendered this improbable. Outside, too, lay the 
frigate, riding on the glassy surface of the sea, her sails furled, 
her yards squared, everything about her cared for and in its 
place, until she formed a faultless picture of nautical symmetry 
and naval propriety. There are all sorts of men in a marine, as 
well as in civil life ; these taking things as they come, content 
to perform their duties in the most quiet manner, while others 
again have some such liking for their vessels as the dandy has 
for his own person, and are never happy unless embellishing 
them. The truth, in this, as in most other matters, lies in a 
medium ; the officer who thinks too much of the appearance of 
his vessel, seldom having mind enough to bestow due attention 
on the great objects for which she was constructed, and is 
sailed ; while, on the other hand, he who is altogether indifferent 
to these appearances is usually thinking of things foreign to his 
duty and his profession ; if, indeed, he thinks at all. Cuffe was 
near the just medium, inclining a little too much, perhaps, to 
the naval dandy. The Proserpine, thanks to the builders of 


180 


WING-AND-WING. 


Toulon, was thought to be the handsomest model then afloat in 
the Mediterranean, and like an established beauty, all who 
belonged to her were fond of decorating her, and of showing her 
fine proportions to advantage. As she now lay, at single 
anchor, just out of gun-shot from his own berth, Raoul could 
not avoid gazing at her with envy, and a bitter feeling jDassed 
through his mind, when he recalled the chances of fortune and 
of birth, which deprived him of the hope of ever rising to the 
command of such a frigate, but which doomed him, seemingly, 
to the fate of a privateersman for life. 

Nature had intended Raoul Yvard for a much higher destiny 
than that which apparently awaited his career. He had come 
into active life with none of the advantages that accompany the 
accidents of birth, and, at a moment in the history of his great 
nation, when its morals and its religious sentiments had become 
unsettled by the violent reaction which was throwing off the 
abuses of centuries. They who imagine, however, that France, 
as a whole, was guilty of the gross excesses that disfigured her 
struggles for liberty, know little of the great mass of moral 
feeling that endured through all the abominations of the times ; 
and mistake the crimes of a few desperate leaders, and the 
exaggerations of misguided impulses, for a radical and universal 
depravity. The France of the Reign of Terror, even, has little 
more to answer for than the compliance which makes bodies of 
men the instruments of the enthusiastic, the designing, and the 
active — our own country often tolerating error, that differs only 
in the degree, under the same blind submission to combinations 
and impulses ; this very degree, too, depending more on the 
accidents of history and natural causes, than any agencies which 
are to be imputed to the one party, as a fault, or to the other, 
as a merit. It was with Raoul, as it had been with his country — 
each was the creature of circumstances ; and if the man had 
some of the faults, he had also most of the merits of his nation 
and his age. The looseness on the subject of religion, which 
was his principal defect in the eyes of Ghita, but which could 
scarcely fail to be a material one, with a girl educated and 


WINGr-AND-WINGr. 


181 


disposed as was the case with our heroine, was the error of the 
day, and with Raoul it was at least sincere ; a circumstance that 
rendered him, with one so truly pious as the gentle being he 
loved, the subject of a holy interest, which, in itself, almost 
rivalled the natural tenderness of her sex, in behalf of the object 
of her affections. 

While the short engagement with the boats lasted, and 
during the few minutes he was under the fire of the frigate, 
Raoul had been himself ; the excitement of actual war always 
nerving him to deeds worthy of his command, and the high 
name he had acquired ; but, throughout the remainder of the 
day, he had felt little disposed to strife. The chase, once assured 
that his spars were likely to stand, gave him little concern ; and 
now that he was at anchor within the shallow water, he felt 
much as the traveller who has found a comfortable inn, after the 
fatigue of a hard day’s ride. When Ithuel suggested the possi- 
bility of a night-attack in boats, he laughingly reminded the 
American that “the burnt child dreads the fire,” and gave 
himself no great concern in the matter. Still no proper precau- 
tion was neglected. Raoul was in the habit of exacting much 
of his men, in moments of necessity ; but, at all other times, he 
was as indulgent as a kind father, among obedient and respectful 
children. This quality, and the never-varying constancy and 
coolness that he displayed in danger, was the secret of his great 
influence with them ; every seaman under his orders feeling 
certain that no severe duty was required at his hands, without 
a corresponding necessity for it. 

On the present occasion, when the people of le Feu-Follet had 
supped, they were indulged in their customary dance ; and the 
romantic songs of Provence were heard on the forecastle. A 
light-hearted gaiety prevailed, that wanted only the presence of 
woman, to make the scene resemble the evening amusement of 
some hamlet on the coast. Nor was the sex absent in the senti- 
ment of the hour, or wholly so in person. The songs were full 
of chivalrous gallantry, and Ghita listened, equally touched and 
amused. She sat on the taffrail, with her uncle standing at her 


182 


W I N G - A N D -WING. 


side, while Raoul paced the quarter-deck, stopping, in his turn, 
to utter some thought or wish, to ears that were always atten- 
tive. At length the song and the dance ended, and all but the 
few who were ordered to remain on watch, descended to their 
hammocks. The change was as sudden as it was striking. 
The solemn, breathing stillness of a star-lit night succeeded to 
the light laugh, melodious song, and spirited merriment of a set 
of men, whose constitutional gaiety seemed to be restrained by 
a species of native refinement that is unknown to the mariners 
of other regions, and w ho, unnurtured as they might be deemed, 
in some respects, seldom or never offended against the proprie- 
ties ; as is so common with the mariners of the boasted Anglo- 
Saxon race. By this time the cool air from the mountains 
began to descend, and floating over the heated sea, it formed a 
light land-breeze, that blew in an exactly contrary direction to 
that, which, about the same hour, came off from the adjacent 
continent. There was no moon ; but the night could not be 
called dark. Myriads of stars gleamed out from the fathomless 
firmament, filling the atmosphere with a light that served to 
render objects sufficiently distinct ; while it left them clad in a 
semi-obscurity that suited the witchery of the scene and the 
hour. Raoul felt the influence of all these circumstances in an 
unusual degree. It disposed him to more sobriety of thought 
than always attended his leisure moments, and he took a seat on 
the taffrail, near Ghita, while her uncle went below', to his knees 
and his prayers. 

Every footfall in the lugger had now r ceased. Ithuel was 
posted on a knight-head, where he sat watching his old enemy, 
the Proserpine ; the proximity of that ship not allowing him to 
sleep. Two experienced seamen, w T ho alone formed the regular 
anchor-watch, as it is termed, w'ere stationed apart, in order to 
prevent conversation ; one on the starboard cat-head, and the 
other in the main rigging ; both keeping vigilant ward over the 
tranquil sea, and the different objects that floated on its placid 
bosom. In that retired spot, these objects were necessarily few T , 
embracing the frigate, the lugger, and three coasters ; the latter 


WING-AND-WING. 


183 


of which had all been boarded before the night set in, by the 
Proserpine, and after short detentions, dismissed. One of these 
coasters lay about half-way between the two hostile vessels, at 
anchor, having come-to, after making some fruitless efforts to 
get to the northward, by means of the expiring west-wind. 
Although the light land-breeze would now have sufficed to carry 
her a knot or two through the water, she preferred maintaining 
her position, and giving h$r people a good night’s rest, to getting 
under way. The situation of this felucca, and the circumstance 
that she had been boarded by the frigate, rendered her an 
object of some distrust with Raoul, through the early part of the 
evening, and he had ordered a vigilant eye to be kept on her ; 
but nothing had been discovered to confirm these suspicions. 
The movements of her people — the manner in which she 
brought-up — the quiet that prevailed on board her, and even 
the lubberly disposition of her spars and rigging, went to satisfy 
Raoul that she had no man-of-war’s men on board her. Still, 
as she lay less than a mile outside of the lugger, though now 
dead to leeward all that distance, she was to be watched ; and 
one of the seamen, he in the rigging, rarely had his eyes off her 
a minute at a time. The second coaster was a little to the 
southward of the frigate, under her canvas, hauling in for the 
land ; doubtless with a view to get as much as possible of the 
breeze from the mountains ; and standing slowly to the south. 
She had been set by compass, an hour before, and all that time 
had altered her bearings but half a point, though not a league 
off- — a proof how light she had the wind. The third coaster, a 
small felucca, too, was to the northward ; but, ever since the 
land-breeze, if breeze it could be called, had come, she had been 
busy turning slowly up to windward ; and seemed disposed 
either to cross the shoals closer in than the spot where the 
lugger lay, or to enter the Golo. Her shadowy outline was 
visible, though drawn against the land, moving slowly athwart 
the lugger’s hawse, perhaps half-a-mile in-shore of her. As 
there was a current setting out of the river, and all the vessels 

rode with their heads to the island, Ithuel occasionally turned 

' %} 


WING-AND-WING. 


184 

his head to watch her progress ; which was so slow, however, as 
to produce very little change. 

After looking around him several minutes in silence, Raoul 
turned his face upwards and gazed at the stars. 

jjtYou probably do not know, Ghita,” he said, “the use those 
stars may be, and are, to us mariners. By their aid, we are 
enabled to tell where we are, in the midst of the broadest 
oceans — to know the points of the compass, and to feel at home 
even when furthest removed from it. The seaman must go 
far south of the equator, at least, ere he can reach a spot where 
he does not see the same stars that he beheld from the door of 
his father’s house.” 

“That is a new thought to me,” answered Ghita, quickly, 
her tender nature at once struck with the feeling and poetry 
of such an idea ; “ that is a new thought to me, Raoul ; and I 
wonder you never mentioned it before. It is a great thing to 
be able to carry home and familiar objects with you, when so 
distant from those you love.” 

“ Did you never hear that lovers have chosen an hour and a 
star, by gazing at which they might commune together, though 
separated by oceans and countries V 7 

“ That is a question you might put to yourself, Raoul ; all I 
have ever heard of lovers and love having come from your own 
lips.” 

“ Well, then, I tell it you ; and hope that we shall not part, 
again, without selecting our star and our hour — if, indeed, we 
ever part more. Though I have forgotten to tell you this, 
Ghita, it is because you are never absent from my thoughts — 
no star is necessary to recall Monte Argentaro and the Towers.” 

If we should say Ghita was not pleased with this, it would be 
to raise her above an amiable and a natural weakness. Raoul’s 
protestations never fell dead on her heart ; and few things were 
sweeter, to her ear, than his words, as they declared his devoted- 
ness and passion. The frankness with which lie admitted his 
delinquencies, and most especially the want of that very religious 
sentiment which was of so much value in the eyes of his mistress, 


WING-AND-WING. 


185 


gave an additional weight to his language, when he affirmed 
his love. Notwithstanding Ghita blushed, as she now listened, 
she did not smile ; she rather appeared sad. For near a 
minute she made no reply ; and when she did answer, it was in 
a low voice, like one who felt and thought intensely. 

“ Those stars may well have a higher office,” she said. 
“ Look at them, Raoul ; — count them we cannot, for they seem 
to start out of the depths of heaven, one after another, as the 
eye rests upon the space, until they mock our efforts at calcula- 
tion. We see they are there in thousands, and may well 
believe they are in myriads. Now, thou hast been taught, else 
couldst thou never be a navigator, that those stars are worlds, 
like our own, or suns, with worlds sailing around them ; how is 
it possible to see and know this, without believing in a God, and 
feeling the insignificance of our being ?” 

“ I do not deny that there is a . power to govern all this, 
Ghita— but I maintain that it is a principle ; not a being, in our 
shape and form ; and that it is the reason of things, rather than 
a deity.” 

“ Who has said that God is a being in our shape and form, 
Raoul ? N one know that — none can know it ; none say it, who 
reverence and worship him as they ought !” 

“ Do not your priests say that man has been created in his 
image ? and is not this creating him in his form and likeness ?” 
“ Nay, not so, dear Raoul, but in the image of his spirit — 
that man hath a soul which partakes, though in a small degree, 
of the imperishable essence of God ; and thus far doth he 
exist in his image. More than this, none have presumed to 
say. But what a being, to be the master of all those bright 
worlds !” 


“ Ghita, thou know’st my way of thinking on these matters ; 
and thou also know’st that I would not wound thy gentle spirit 
by a single word that could grieve thee.” 

“Nay, Raoul, it is not' thy way of thinking , but thy fashion 
of talking , that makes the difference between us. No one who 
thinks , can ever doubt the existence of a being superior to all of 


186 


WING-AND-WING. 


earth, and of the universe ; and who is Creator and Master 
of all.” 

“ Of a principle , if thou wilt, Ghita ; but of a being, I ask for 
the proof. That a mighty principle exists, to set all these 
planets in motion — to create all these stars, and to plant all 
these suns in space, I never doubted ; it would be to question 
a fact which stands, day and night, before my eyes ; but to 
suppose a being capable of producing all these things, is to 
believe in beings I never saw.” 

“ And why not as well suppose that it is a being that does all 
this, Raoul, as suppose it what you call a principle ?” 

“ Because I see principles, beyond my understanding, at work 
all around me : in yonder heavy frigate, groaning under her 
load of artillery, which floats on this thin water ; in the trees, 
of the land that lies so near us ; in the animals, which are born, 
and die ; the fishes, the birds, and the human beings. But I 
see no being — know no being, that is able to do all this.” 

“ That is because thou know’st not God ! He is the creator 
of the principles of which thou speak’st, and is greater than thy 
principles themselves.” 

“It is easy to say this, Ghita — but hard to prove. I take 
the acorn, and put it in the ground ; in due time it comes up a 
plant ; in the course of years, it becomes a tree. Now, all this 
depends on a certain mysterious principle, which is unknown to 
me, but which I am sure exists, for I can cause it myself to 
produce its fruits, by merely opening the earth and laying the 
seed in its bosom. Nay, I can do more — so well do I under- 
stand this principle, to a certain extent at least, that, by 
choosing the season and the soil, I can hasten or retard the 
growth of the plant, and, in a manner, fashion the tree.” 

“ True, Raoul, to a certain extent thou canst ; and it is 
precisely because thou hast been created after the image of God. 
The little resemblance thou enjoyest to that Mighty being enables 
thee to do this much more than the beasts of the field : wert thou 
his equal, thou couldst create that principle of which thou speak- 
est, and which, in thy blindness, thou mistakest for its master.” 


WING-AND-WING. 


187 


This was said with more feeling than Ghita had ever before 
manifested, in their frequent discourses on this subject, and with 
a solemnity of tone that startled her listener. Ghita had no 
philosophy, in the common acceptation of the term, while Raoul 
fancied he had much, under the limitations of a deficient edu- 
cation ; and yet the strong religious sentiment of the girl so 
quickened her faculties, that he had often been made to wonder 
why she had seemingly the best of the argument, on a subject 
in which he flattered himself with beino; so strong. 

O <D 

“ I rather think, Ghita, we scarcely understand each other,' ” 
answered Raoul. “ I pretend not to see any more than is per- 
mitted to man ; or, rather, more than his powers can compre- 
hend ; but this proves nothing, as the elephant understands 
more than the horse, and the horse more than the fish. There 
is a principle which pervades everything, which we call Nature ; 
and this it is which has produced these whirling worlds, and all 
the mysteries of creation. One of its laws is, that nothing it 
produces shall comprehend its secrets.” 

“ You have only to fancy your principle a spirit, a being with 
mind, Raoul, to have the Christian’s God. Why not believe in 
him as easily as you believe in your unknown principle, as you 
call it ? You know that you exist — that you can build a lugger 
— can reason on the sun and stars, so as to find your way across 
the widest ocean, by means of your mind ; and why not suppose 
that some superior being exists, who can do even more than 
this? Your principles can be thwarted, even by yourself — the 
seed can be deprived of its power to grow — the tree destroyed ; 
and, if principles can thus be destroyed, some accident may one 
day destroy creation, by destroying its principle. I fear to 
speak to you of revelation, Raoul, for I know you mock it !” 

“ Not when it comes from thy lips, dearest. I may not 
believe , but I never mock at what thou utterest and reveren- 
cest.” 

“ I could thank thee for this, Raoul, but I feel it would be 
taking to myself a homage that ought to be paid elsewhere. 
But, here is my guitar, and I am sorry to say that the hymn to the 


188 


WING-AND-WING. 


Virgin has not been sung on board this lugger to-night ; thou 
canst not think how sweet is a hymn sung upon the waters. I 
heard the crew that is anchored towards the frigate, singing 
that hymn, while thy men were at their light Provencal songs 
in praise of woman’s beauty, instead of joining in praise of 
their Creator.” 

“ Thou mean’st to sing thy hymn, Ghita, else the guitar would 
not have been mentioned ?” 

“ Raoul, I do. I have ever found thy soul the softest, after 
holy music. Who knows, but the mercy of God may one day 
touch it, through the notes of this very hymn !” 

Ghita paused a moment, and then her light fingers passed 
over the strings of her guitar, in a solemn symphony ; after 
which came the sweet strains of “ Ave Maria,” in a voice and 
melody that might, in sooth, have touched a heart of stone. 
Ghita, a Neapolitan by birth, had all her country’s love for 
music ; and she had caught some of the science that seems to 
pervade nations in that part of the world. Nature had endow- 
ed her with one of the most touching voices of her sex ; one 
less powerful, than mellow and sweet ; and she never used it in 
a religious office without its becoming tremulous and eloquent 
with feeling. While she was now singing this well known 
hymn, a holy hope pervaded her moral system, that, in some 
miraculous manner, she might become the agent of turning 
Raoul to the love and worship of God ; and the feeling commu- 
nicated itself to her execution. Never before had she sunof so 
well ; as a proof of which, Ithuel left his knight-head, and 
came aft, to listen, while the two French mariners on watch 
temporarily forgot their duty, in entranced attention. 

“If anything could make me a believer, Ghita,” murmured 
Raoul, when the last strain had died on the lips of his beloved, 
w it Avould be to listen to thy melody ! What now, Monsieur 
Etooell ! are you, too, a lover of holy music ?” 

“ This is rare singing, Captain Rule ; but we have different 
business on hand. If you will step to the other end of the 
lugger, you can take a look at the craft that has been crawling 


WI N G- AND- WI NG. 


189 


along, in-shore of us, for the last three hours — there is some- 
thing about her that is unnat’ral ; she seems to be dropping 
down nearer to us, while she has no motion through the water. 
The last circumstance I hold to be unnat’ral with a vessel 
that has all sail set, and in this breeze.” 

Raoul pressed the hand of Ghita, and whispered her to go 
below, as he was fearful the air of the night might injure her. 
He then went forward, where he could command as good a 
view of the felucca in-shore, as the obscurity of the hour per- 
mitted ; and he felt a little uneasiness, when he found how near 
she had got to the lugger. When he last noted her posi- 
tion, this vessel was quite half a mile distant, and appeared to 
be crossing the bows of le Feu-Follet, with sufficient wind to 
have carried her a mile ahead in the interval ; yet could he not 
perceive that she had advanced as far, in that direction, as she 
had drifted down upon the lugger the while. 

u Have you been examining her long?” he demanded of the 
New Hampshire man. 

“ Ever since she has seemed to stand still ; which is now some 
twenty minutes. She is dull, I suppose, for she has been seve- 
ral hours getting along a league ; and there is now air enough 
for such a craft to go three knots to the hour. Her coming 
down upon us is easily accounted for, there being a considerable 
current out of this river, as you may see by the ripple at our 
own cut-water ; but I find nothing to keep her from going 
ahead at the same time. I set her by the light you see, here, in 
the wake of the nearest mountain, at least a quarter of an hour 
since, and she has not advanced five times her own length since.’’ 
“ ’Tis nothing but a Corsican coaster, after all, Etooell : I hard- 
ly think the English would risk our canister again, for the 
pleasure of being beaten off in another attempt to board !” 

“ They’re a spiteful set, aboard the frigate ; and the Lord only 
knows ! See, here is a good heavy night air, and that felucca is 
not a cable’s length from us ; set her by the jib-stay, and judge 
for yourself how slowly she goes ahead ! That it is, which non- 
plushes me /” 


190 


WING-AND-WING. 


Raoul did as the other desired, and, after a short trial, he 
found that the coaster had no perceptible motion ahead, while, 
it was certain she was drifting down with the current directly 
athwart the lugger’s hawse. This satisfied him that she must 
have drags astern ; a circumstance that at once denoted a hos- 
tile intention. The enemy was probably on board the felucca, 
in force ; and it was incumbent on him to make immediate 
preparations for defence. 

Still, Raoul was reluctant to disturb his people. Like all 
firm and cool men, he was averse to the parade of a false alarm ; 
and it seemed so improbable that the lesson of the morn- 
ing was so soon forgotten, that he could hardly persuade him- 
self to believe his senses. Then the men had been very hard 
at work throughout the day ; and most of them were sleeping 
the sleep of the weary. On the other hand, every minute 
brought the coaster nearer, and increased the danger, should 
the enemy be really in possession of her. Under all the circum- 
stances, he determined, first, to hail ; knowing that his crew 
could be got up in a minute, and that they slept with arms at 
their sides, under an apprehension that a boat attack might 
possibly be attempted in the course of the night. 

u Felucca, ahoy!” called out the captain of le Feu-Follet, the other 
craft being too near to render any great effort of the voice necessary; 
“W hat felucca is that ? and why have you so great a drift ?” 

“ La Bella Corsienne !” was the answer, in a patois, half 
French, half Italian, as Raoul expected, if all were right. “ We 
are bound into la Padulella ; and wish to keep in with the land 
to hold the breeze the longer. We are no great sailer at the 
best, and have a drift, because we are just now in the strength 
of the current.” 

“At this rate, you will come athwart my hav T se. You know 
I am armed, and cannot suffer that !” 

“ Ah, Signore, we are friends of the republic, and would not 
harm you if we could. We hope you will not injure poor 
mariners like us. We will keep away, if you please, and pass 
under your stern — ” 


WING-AND-WING. 


191 


* 


This proposition was made so suddenly and so unexpectedly, 
that Raoul had not time to object ; and had he been disposed 
to do so, the execution was too prompt to allow him the means. 
The felucca fell broad off, and came down almost in a direct 
line for the lugger’s bows, before the wind and current ; moving 
fast enough now to satisfy all Ithuel’s scruples. 

“ Call all hands to repel boarders !” cried Raoul, springing 
aft to the capstan, and seizing his own arms — “ Come up lively, 
mes enfans ! — here is treachery !” 

These words were hardly uttered before Raoul was back on 
the heel of the bowsprit, and the most active of his men — some 
five or six at most — began to show themselves on deck. In 
that brief space, the felucca had got within eighty yards, when, 
to the surprise of all in the lugger, she luffed into the wind 
again, and drifted down, until it was apparent that she was foul 
of the lugger’s cable, her stern swinging round directly on the 
latter’s starboard bow. At that instant, or just as the two ves- 
sels came in actual contact, and Raoul’s men were thronging 
around him to meet the expected attack, the sounds of oars, 
pulled for life or death, were heard, and flames burst upwards 
from the open hatch of the coaster. Then a boat was dimly 
seen gliding away in a line with the hull, by the glowing 
light y,,- .. i, i , . 4 

u Un brulot ! — un brulot ! — a fireship !” exclaimed twenty 
voices together, the horror that mingled in the cries proclaiming 
the extent of a danger which is, perhaps, the most terrific that 
seamen can encounter. 

But the voice of Raoul Yvard was not among them. The 
moment his eye caught the first glimpse of the flames, he dis- 
appeared from the bowsprit. He might have been absent about 
twenty seconds. Then he was seen on the taffrail of the felucca, 
with a spare shank-painter, which had been lying on the fore- 
castle, on his shoulder. 

“ Antoine ! — Francois ! — Gregoire ! ” — he called out, in a 
voice of thunder, — “ follow me ! — the rest, clear away the cable 
and bend a hawser to the better end !” 


192 


WING-AND-WING', 


The people of le Feu-Follet were trained to order and impli- 
cit obedience. By this time, too, the lieutenants were among 
them ; and the men set about doing as they had been directed. 
Raoul himself passed into the felucca, followed by the three 
men he had selected by name. The adventurers had no diffi- 
culty, as yet, in escaping the flames, though, by this time, they 
W£re pouring upwards from the hatch in a torrent. As Raoul 
suspected, his cable had been grappled ; and, seizing the rope, 
he tightened it to a severe strain, securing the in-board part. 
Then he passed down to the cable himself, directing his com- 
panions to hand him the rope-end of the shank-painter, which 
he fastened to the cable by a jamming hitch. This took half-a- 
minute ; in half-a-minute more, he was on the felucca’s forecastle 
again. Here the chain was easily passed through a hawse-hole ; 
and a knot tied, with a marlinespike passed through its centre. 
To pass the fire, on the return, was now a serious matter ; but 
it was done without injury, Raoul driving his companions before 
him. Ho sooner did his foot reach the bows of le Feu-Follet, 
again, than he shouted — 

“ Veer away ! — pay out cable, men, if you would save our 
beautiful lusrffer from destruction !” 

Nor was there a moment to spare. The lugger took the 
cable that was given he£ fast enough, under the pressure of the 
current, and helped by the breeze ; but at first, the fire-vessel, 
already a sheet of flame, her decks having been saturated with tar, 
seemed disposed to accompany her. To the delight of all in the 
lugger, however, the stern of the felucca was presently seen to 
separate from their own bows ; and a sheer having been given 
to le Feu-Follet, by means of the helm, in a few seconds even 
her bowsprit and jib had cleared the danger. The felucca rode 
stationary y while the lugger dropped astern, fathom after fathom, 
until she lay more than a hundred yards distant from the fiery 
mass. As a matter of course, while the cable was paid out, the 
portion to which the lanyard, or rope part of the shank-painter 
was fastened, dropped into the water, while the felucca rode by 
the chain. 


WING-AND-WING. 


193 


These events occupied less than five minutes ; and all had 
been done with a steadiness and promptitude that seemed more 
like instinct than reason. Raoul’s voice was not heard, except 
in the few orders mentioned ; and when, by the glaring light 
which illuminated all in the lugger and the adjacent water to 
some distance, nearly to the brightness of noon-day, he saw 
Ghita gazing at the spectacle in awed admiration and terror, he 
went to her, and spoke as if the whole were merely a brilliant 
spectacle, devised for their amusement. 

“ Our girandola is second only to that of St. Peter,” he said, 
smiling. “ Twas a narrow escape, love ; but, thanks to thy 
God, if thou wilt it shall be so, we have received no harm.” 

“ And you have been the agent of his goodness, Raoul ; I 
have witnessed all from this spot. The call to the men brought 
me on deck ; and, oh ! how I trembled, as I saw you on the 
fiamino’ mass !” 

O 

“ It has been cunningly planned, on the part of Messieurs les 
Anglais ; but it lias signally failed. That coaster has a cargo of 
tar and naval stores on board ; and, capturing her this evening, 
they have thought to extinguish our lantern by the brighter and 
fiercer flame of their own. But, le Feu-Follet will shine again, 
when their fire is dead !” 

“ Is there, then, no danger that the brulot will yet come down 
upon us — she is fearfully near !” 

“ Not sufficiently so to do us harm ; more especially as our 
sails are damp with dew. Here she cannot come, so long as 
our cable stands ; and, as that is under water where she lies, it 
cannot burn. In half-an-hour there will be little of her left ; and 
we will enjoy the bonfire while it lasts.” 

And, now the fear of danger was past, it was a sight truly to 
be enjoyed. Every anxious and curious face in the lugger was 
to be seen, under that brilliant light, turned towards the glowing 
mass, as the sun-flower follows the great source of heat, in his 
track athwart the heavens ; while the spars, sails, guns, and even 
the smallest object on board the lugger, started out of the 
obscurity of night into the brightness of such an illumination, 

9 


194 


WING-AND-WING. 


as if composing parts of some brilliant scenic display. But so 
fierce a flame soon exhausted itself. Ere long, the felucca’s 
masts fell, and with them a pyramid of fire. Then the glowing 
deck •tumbled in ; and, finally, timber after timber, and plank 
after plank fell, until the conflagration, in a great measure, 
extinguished itself in the water on which it floated. An hour 
after the flames appeared, little remained but the embers which 
were glowing in the hold of the wreck. 



WING-AND-WING. 


195 




CHAPTER XII. 

“ A justice of the peace, for the time being, ' 

They bow to, but may turn him out next year, 

They reverence their priest, but, disagreeing 
In price or creed, dismiss him without fear; 

They have a natural talent for foreseeing 

And knowing all things ; and should Park appear 

From his long tour in Africa, to show 

The Niger’s source, they’d meet him with — We know.” 

Hallkck. 

Raoul was not mistaken as to the manner in which they 
were obtained, and the means employed by his enemies. The 
frigate had found one of the feluccas loaded with naval stores, 
including some ten or fifteen barrels of tar; and it instantly 
struck Griffin, who was burning to revenge the defeat of the 
morning, that the prize might be converted into a fire-vessel. 
As the second lieutenant volunteered to carry her in, always a 
desperate service, Cuffe gave his consent. Nothing could have 
been better managed than the whole duty connected with this 
exploit, including the manner in which our hero saved his vessel 
from destruction. The frigate kept between her prize and the 
lugger, to conceal the fact that a boat remained on board the 
former; and, when all was ready, the felucca was apparently 
permitted to proceed on her voyage. The other two prizes were 
allowed to go free, also, as cloaks to the whole affair. Griffin, 
as has been seen, kept standing in for the land ; his object 
being to get up stream from the lugger, and as near her as 
possible. When he found himself almost as far ahead as was 
desirable, drags were used, to keep the craft stationary ; and, in 
this manner, she drifted down on her intended victim, as has 
been already described. But for the sagacity and uneasiness 
of Ithuel, the plan would altogether have escaped detection • 


J 96 


WING-AND-WING. 


and, but for the coolness, courage, and resources of Raoul, it 
would infallibly have succeeded, notwithstanding the suspicions 
that had been excited. 

Cuflfe, and the people on deck, watched the whole affair with 
the deepest interest. They were barely able to see the sails of 
the felucca, by means of a night-glass, as she was dropping down 
on the lugger; and Yelverton had just exclaimed that the two 
vessels were foul of each other, when the flames broke out. As 
a matter of course, at that distance, both craft seemed on fire ; 
and when le Feu-Follet had dropped a hundred yards nearer to 
the frigate, leaving the felucca blazing, the two were so exactly 
in a line, as to bring them together, as seen from the former’s 
decks. The English expected every moment to hear the 
explosion of the lugger’s magazine ; but, as it did not happen, 
they came to the conclusion it had been drowned. As for Griffin, 
he pulled in-shore, both to avoid the fire of le Feu-Follet, in 
passing her broadside, and in the hope of intercepting Raoul, 
while endeavoring to escape in a boat. He even went to a 
landing in the river, quite a league from the anchorage, and 
waited there until long past midnight, wdien, finding the night 
beginning to cloud over, and the obscurity to increase, he 
returned to the frigate, giving the smouldering wreck a wide 
berth, for fear of accidents. 

Such, then, was the state of things, when Captain Cuffe 
appeared on deck, just as the day began to dawn, on the follow- 
ing morning. He had given orders to be called at that hour, 
and was now all impatience to get a view T of the sea, more 
particularly in-shore. At length the curtain began slowly to 
rise, and his view extended further and further towards the river, 
until all was visible, even to the very land. Not a craft of any 
sort was in sight. Even the wreck had disappeared, though 
this w as subsequently discovered in the surf ; having drifted out 
with the current, until it struck an eddy, which carried it in 
again, wdien it was finally stranded. No vestige of le Feu-Follet, 
however, w T as to be seen. Not even a tent on the shore, a 
wandering boat, a drifting spar, or a rag of a sail ! All had 


WING-AND-WING. 


197 


disappeared, no doubt, in the conflagration. As Cuffe went 
below, he walked with a more erect mien than he had done 
since the affair of the previous morning ; and as he opened his 
writing-desk, it was with the manner of one entirely satisfied 
with himself, and his own exertions. Still, a generous regret 
mingled with his triumph. It was a great thing to have 
destroyed the most pernicious privateer that sailed out of France ; 
and yet it was a melancholy fate to befall seventy or eighty 
human beings — to perish like so many curling caterpillars, 
destroyed by fire. Nevertheless, the thing was done; and it 
must be reported to the authorities above him. The following 
letter was consequently written to the commanding officer in 
that sea, viz : 

His Majesty’s Ship Proserpine, off the mouth of the Golo, 

Island of Corsica, July 23, 1799. 

My Lord — I have the satisfaction of reporting, for the infor- 
mation of my Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, the 
destruction of the Republican privateer, the le Few T -Folly, 
commanded by the notorious Raoul Yvard, on the night of the 
2 2d inst. The circumstances attending this important success 
are as follows. Understanding that the celebrated picaroon had 
been on the Neapolitan and Roman coasts, doing much mischief, 
I took his Majesty’s ship close in, following up the peninsula, 
with the land in sight, until we got through the Canal of Elba, 
early on the morning of the 21st. On opening Porto Ferrajo 
bay, we saw a lugger lying at anchor off the town, with English 
colors flying. As this was a friendly port, we could not suppose 
the craft to be the le Few-Folly ; but, determined to make sure, 
we beat in, signalling the stranger, until he took advantage of 
our stretching well over to the eastward, to slip round the rocks, 
and get off to-windward. We followed, for a short distance, and 
then ran over under the lee of Capraya, where we remained 
until the morning of the 2 2d, when we again went off the town. 
We found the lugger in the offing ; and being now well satisfied 
of her character, and it falling calm, I sent the boats after her, 
under Messrs. Winchester and Griffin, tjie first and second of 


198 


WING-AND-WING. 


this ship. After a sharp skirmish, in which we sustained some 
loss, though that of the Republicans was evidently much greater, 
Monsieur Yvard succeeded in effecting his escape, in consequence 
of a breeze’s suddenly springing up. Sail was now made on the 
ship, and we chased the lugger into the mouth of the Golo. 
Having fortunately captured a felucca, w T ith a quantity of tar 
and other combustible materials on board, as we drew in with 
the land, I determined to make a fire-ship of her, and to destroy 
the enemy by that mode ; he having anchored within the shoals, 
beyond the reach of shot. Mr. Winchester, the first, having 
been wounded in the boat-affair, I intrusted the execution of 
this duty to Mr. Griffin, who handsomely volunteered, and by 
whom it was effectually discharged, about ten last evening, in 
the coolest and most officer-like manner. I inclose this gentle- 
man’s report of the affair, and beg leave to recommend him to 
the favor of my Lords Commissioners. With Mr. Winchester’s 
good conduct, under a sharp fire, in the morning, the service has 
also every reason to be satisfied. I hope this valuable officer 
will soon be able to return to duty. 

Permit me to congratulate you, my lord, on the complete 
destruction of this most pernicious cruiser of the enemy. So 
effectual has it been, that not a spar, or a fragment of wreck, 
remains. We have reason to think every soul on board 
perished ; and though this fearful loss of human life is to be 
deeply deplored, it has been made in the service of good 
government and religion. The lugger was filled with loose 
women ; our people hearing them singing their philosophical 
and irreligious songs, as they approached with the fire-vessel. 
I shall search the coast for any rafts that may be drifting about, 
and then proceed to Leghorn for fresh provisions. 

I have the honor to be, my lord, 

Your lordship’s most obedient servant, 

Richard Cuffe. 

To Rear Admiral the Right Hon. Lord Nelson, 

Duke of Bronte, &c., &c., &c. 

Cuffe read this report over twice ; then he sent for Griffin, to 


WING-AND-WING. 


199 


whom he read it aloud, glancing his eye meaningly at his 
subordinate, when he came to the part where he spoke of the 
young man’s good conduct. 

“ So much for that d -d Jack-o’-Lantern, Griffin ! I fancy 

it will lead no one else on a wild-goose chase.” 

“I trust not, sir. Will you allow me to suggest a slight 
alteration in the spelling of the lugger’s name, Captain Cuffe ; 
the clerk can make it, when he writes out the letter fairly.” 
u Aye — I dare say it is different from what we would have it ; 
French spelling being no great matter, in general. Put it as 
you please ; though Nelson has as great a contempt for their 
boasted philosophy and learning as I have myself. I fancy you 
will find all the English spelt right. How do you write their 
confounded gibberish?” 

“ Feu-Follet, sir, pronouncing the last part of it ioVlay ; not 
io\-ly. I was thinking of asking leave, Captain Cuffe, to take 
one of the cutters, and puli up to the lugger’s anchorage, and 
see if anything can be found of her wreck. The ship will hardly 
get under-way until the westerly wind comes.” 

“ No ; probably not. I will order my gig manned, and we’ll 
go together. Poor Winchester must keep house awhile ; so 
there is no use in asking him. I saw no necessity for putting 
Nelson into a passion, by saying anything about the exact 
amount of our loss in that boat scrape, Griffin.’’ 

“ I agree with you, sir, that it is best as it is. ‘ Some loss’ 
covers everything — it means i more or less.’ ” 

“ That was just my notion. I dare say there may have been 
twenty women in the lugger.” 

“ I can’t answer for the number, sir ; but I heard female sing- 
ing as we got near, in the fire-ship ; and think it likely there 
may have been that number. The lugger was full-manned; 
for they were like bees swarming on her forecastle, when 
we were dropping foul. I saw Raoul Yvard by the light of the 
fire, as plainly as I now see you, and might have picked him 
off with a musket ; but that would hardly have been honor- 
able.” 


200 


W I N G - A N D - W I N G . 


To this Cuffe assented, and then he led the way on deck, 
having previously ordered the boats manned. The two officers 
proceeded to the spot where they supposed the Feu-Follet had 
been anchored, and rowed round for near an hour, endeavoring 
to find some traces of her wreck on the bottom. Griffin sug- 
gested that, when the magazine was drowned, in the hurry and 
confusion of the moment, the cock may have been left open — a 
circumstance that might very well have carried down the bot- 
tom of so small a vessel, in two or three hours ; more especially 
after her hull had burnt to the water’s edge. The next thing 
was to find this bottom, by no means a hopeless task, as the 
waters of the Mediterranean are usually so clear that the eye can 
penetrate several fathoms, even oft' the mouth of the Golo — a 
stream that brought more or less debris from the mountains, 
It is scarcely necessary to say, that the search was not rewarded 
with success, the Feu-Follet being, just at that time, snug 
at anchor at Bastia, where her people had already taken out 
her wounded mainmast, with a view to step a new one in 
its place. At that very moment, Carlo Giuntotardi, his niece, 
and Raoul Yvard, were walking up the principal street of the 
town, the place standing on a hill, like Porto Ferrajo, perfectly 
at their ease, as regards fire-ships, English frigates, and the dan- 
gers of the seas. But all this was a profound mystery to Cuffe 
and his companions, who had long been in the habit of putting 
the most favorable constructions on the results of their profes- 
sional undertakings, and certainly not altogether without reason ; 
and who nothing doubted that le Feu-Follet had, to use their 
own language, “ laid her bones somewhere along-shore, here.” 

After two or three hours passed in fruitless search, Cuffe 
determined to return to his ship. He was a keen sportsman, 
and had brought a fowling-piece with him in his gig, with 
a half-formed design of landing, and whiling away the time, 
until the westerly wind came, among some marshes that he 
saw near the shore ; but had been persuaded by Griffin not to 
venture. 

“ There must be woodcock in that wet ground, Griffin,” he 


WING-AND-WING. 


201 


said, as he reluctantly yielded a little in his intention ; “ and 
Winchester would fancy a bird exceedingly in a day or two. 
I never was hit in my life that I did not feel a desire for game, 
after the fever was gone. Snipe, too, must live on the banks of 
that stream. Snipe are coming in season now, Griffin ?” 

“ It’s more likely, sir, that some of the privateersmen have got 
ashore on planks and empty casks, aud are prowling about 
in the weeds, watching our boats. Three or four of them would 
be too much for you, Captain Cuffe, as the scoundrels all carry 
knives as long as ship’s cutlasses.” 

“ I suppose your notion may be true ; and I shall have 
to give it up. Pull back to the frigate, Davy, and we’ll be off 
after some more of these French ragamuffins.” 

This settled the matter. In half-an-hour the boats were 
swinging at the Proserpine’s quarters ; and three hours later the 
ship was under her canvas, standing slowly off the land. That 
day, however, the zephyr was exceedingly light, and the sun set 
just as the ship got the small island of Pianosa abeam ; when 
the air came from the northward, and the ship’s head was laid 
in to the eastward ; the course lying between the land just men- 
tioned, and that of Elba. All night the Proserpine was slowly 
fanning her way along the south side of the latter island, when, 
getting the southerly air again in the morning, she reappeared 
in the Canal of Piombino, as the day advanced, precisely as she 
had done before, when first introduced to the acquaintance 
of the reader. Cuffe had given orders to be called, as usual, 
when the light was about to return ; it being a practice with 
him, in that active and pregnant war, to be on deck at such 
moments, in order to ascertain, with his own eyes, what the 
fortunes of the night had brought within his reach. 

“ Well, Mr. Griffin,” he said, as soon as he had received 
the salutation of the officer of the watch, “ you have had a still 
night of it. Yonder is the Point of Piombino, I see ; and here 
we have got Elba, and this little rocky island again, on our lar- 
board hand. One day is surprisingly like another about these 
times, for us mariners in particular.” 

9 * 


202 


WING-AND-WING. 


“ Do you really think so, Captain Cuffe ? — Now, to my 
notion, this day hasn’t had its equal on the Proserpine’s log, 
since we got hold of l’Epervier and her convoy. You forget, sir, 
that we destroyed le Feu-Follet last night !” 

“ Aye — that is something — especially for you , Griffin. Well, 
Nelson will hear of it by mail, as soon as we can get into Leg- 
horn, which will be immediately after I have had an opportunity 
of communicating with these people in Porto Ferrajo. After all 
that has passed, the least we can do is to let your veechy-govern- 
the-tories know of our success.” 

“ Sail, ho !” shouted the look-out, on the foretopsail-yard. 

The two officers turned, and gazed round them in every 
direction, when the captain made the customary demand of 
“ Where-away ?” 

“ Here, sir, close aboard of us, on our larboard hand, and on 
our weather quarter.” 

“ On our weather quarter ! — D n me if that can be true, 

Griffin. There is nothing but the island there. The fellow can- 
not have mistaken this little island for the hull of a ship ?” 

“ If he has, sir,” answered Griffin, laughing, “ it must be for 
a twenty-decker. That is Ben Brown aloft ; and he is as good 
a look-out as we have in the ship.” 

“ Do you see her, sir ?” demanded Ben Brown, looking over 
his shoulder to put the question. 

“Not a bit of her,” cried Cuffe. “ You must be dreaming, 
fellow. What does she look like ?” 

“ There, this small island shuts her in from the deck, sir. 
She is a lugger ; and looks as much like the one we burnt last 
night, sir, as one of our cat-heads is like t’other.” 

“ A lugger !” exclaimed Cuffe. “ What, another of the 
blackguards! By Jove! I’ll go aloft, and take a look for 
myself. It’s ten to one that I see her from the maintop.” 

In three minutes more, Captain Cuffe was in the top in 
question ; having passed through the lubber-hole, as every 
sensible man does, in a frigate, more especially when she stands 
up for want of wind. That was an age in which promotion was 


WING-AND-WING. 


203 


rapid, there being few grey-bearded lieutenants, then, in the 
English marine ; and even admirals were not wanting who had 
not cut all their wisdom-teeth. Cuffe, consequently, was still a 
young man ; and it cost him no great effort to get up his ship’s 
ratlins in the manner named. Once in the top, he had all his 
eyes about him. For quite a minute he stood motionless, 
gazing in the direction that had been pointed out by Ben Brown. 
All this time Griffin stood on the quarter-deck, looking quite as 
intently at his superior as the latter gazed at the strange sail. 
Then Cuffe deigned to cast a glance literally beneath him, in 
order to appease the curiosity, which, he well understood, it was 
so natural for the officer of the watch to feel. Griffin did not 
dare to ask his captain what he saw ; but he looked a volume 
of questions on the interesting subject. 

“ A sister corsair, by J upiter Ammon !” cried Cuffe ; “ a twin 
sister, too ; for they are as much alike as one cat-head is like 
another. More too, by Jove, if I am any judge.” 

“ What will you have us do, Captain Cuffe ?” inquired the 
lieutenant. “ We are now going to leeward, all the while. I 
don’t know, sir, that there is positively a current here, but — ” 

“ Very well, sir — very well — haul up on the larboard tack, as 
soon as possible, and get the larboard batteries clear. We may 
have to cripple the chap, in order to get hold of him.” 

As this was said, Cuffe descended through the same lubber- 
hole, and soon appeared on deck. The ship now became a 
scene of activity and bustle. All hands were called, and the 
guns were cleared away by some, while others braced the yards, 
according: to the new line of sailing. 

The reader would be greatly aided, in understanding what is 
to follow, could he, perchance, cast a look at a map of the coast 
of Italy. He will there see that the eastern side of the Island 
of Elba runs in a nearly north and south direction, Piombino 
lying off about north-north-east from its northern extremity. 
Near this northern extremity lies the little rocky islet, so often 
mentioned, or the spot which Napoleon, fifteen years later, 
selected as the advanced redoubt of his insular empire. Of 


204 


WING-AKD-WING. 


course, the Proserpine was on one side of this islet, and the 
strange lugger on the other. The first had got so far through 
the Canal, as to be able to haul close upon the wind, on the 
larboard tack, and yet to clear the islet ; while the last was just 
far enough to windward, or sufficiently to the southward, to be 
shut out from view from the frigate’s decks, by the intervening 
rocks. As the distance from the islet to the island did not 
much exceed a hundred or two yards, Captain Cuffe hoped to 
inclose his chase between himself and the land, never dreaming 
that the stranger would think of standing through so narrow 
and rocky a pass. He did not know his man, however, who 
was Raoul Yvard ; and who had come this way, from Bastia, in 
the hope of escaping any further collision with his formidable 
foe. He had seen the frigate’s lofty sails, above the rock, as 
soon as it was light ; and being under no hallucination on the 
subject of her existence, he knew her at a glance. His first 
order was to haul everything as flat as possible ; and his great 
desire was, to get from under the lee of the mountains of Elba 
into this very pass, through which the wind drew with more 
force than it blew anywhere near by. 

As the Proserpine was quite a league off, in the Canal, 
le Feu-Follet, which sailed so much the fastest in light winds, 
had abundance of time to effect her object. Instead of avoiding 
the narrow pass between the two islands, Raoul glided boldly 
into it; and, by keeping vigilant eyes on his fore-yard, to 
apprise him of danger, he succeeded in making two stretches 
in the strait itself, coming out to the southward on the 
starboard tack, handsomely clearing the end of the islet at the 
very instant the frigate appeared on the other side of the pass. 
The lugger had now an easy task of it ; for she had only to 
watch her enemy, and tack in season, to keep the islet between 
them ; since the English did not dare to carry so large a ship 
through so narrow an opening. This advantage Raoul did not 
overlook, and Cuffe had gone about twice, closing, each time, 
nearer and nearer to the islet, before he was satisfied that his 
guns would be of no service until he could at least weather the 


WIN G-AND-WIN6. 


205 


intervening object ; after which they would most probably be 
useless, in so light a wind, by the distance between them and 
their enemy. 

“ Never mind, Mr. Griffin ; let this scamp go,” said the cap- 
tain, when he made this material discovery ; “ it is pretty 
well to have cleared*the seas of one of them. Besides, we do 
not know that this is an enemy at all. He showed no colors, 
and seems to have just come out of Porto Ferrajo, a friendly 
haven.” 

“ Raoul Yvard did that, sir, not once, but twice,” muttered 
Yelverton, who, from the circumstance that he had not been 
employed in the different attempts on le Feu-Follet,‘was one of 
the very few dissentients in the ship touching her fate. u These 
twins are exceedingly alike ; especially Pomp , as the American 
negro said of his twin children.” 

This remark passed unheeded ; for so deep was the delusion, 
in the ship, touching the destruction of the privateer, it would 
have been as hopeless an attempt to try to persuade her offi- 
cers, and people generally, that le Feu-Follet was not burned, 
as it would be to induce a u great nation” to believe that it had 
any of the weaknesses and foibles that confessedly beset smaller 
communities. The Proserpine was put about again, and, set- 
ting her ensign, she stood into the bay of Porto Ferrajo ; anchor- 
ing quite near the place that Raoul had selected for the same 
purpose, on two previous occasions. The gig was lowered, and 
Cuffe, accompanied by Griffin as an interpreter, landed, to pay 
the usual visit of ceremony to the authorities. 

The wind being so light, several hours were necessary to effect 
all these changes ; and, by the time the two officers were ascend- 
ing the terraced street, the day had advanced sufficiently to 
render the visit suitable as to time. Cuffe appearing in full 
uniform, with epaulettes and sword, his approach attracted 
notice ; and Vito Viti hurried off to apprise his friend of the 
honor he w r as about to receive. The vice-governatore was not 
taken by surprise, therefore, but had some little time to prepare 
his excuses for being the dupe of a fraud as impudent as that 


206 


WING-AND-WING. 


which Raoul Yvard had so successfully practised on him. The 
reception was dignified, though courteous ; and it had none the 
less of ceremony, from the circumstance that all which was said 
by the respective colloquists had to be translated before it could 
be understood. This circumstance rendered the few first 
minutes of the interview a little constraffied ; but each party 
having something on his mind, of which it was his desire to be 
relieved, natural feeling soon got the better of forms. 

“ I ought to explain to you, Sir Cuffe, the manner in which 
a recent event occurred in our bay, here,” observed the vice- 
governatore ; “ since, without such explanation, you might be 
apt to consider us neglectful of our duties, and unworthy of the 
trust which the Grand Duke reposes in us. I allude, as you 
will at once understand, to the circumstance that le Feu-Follet 
has twice been lying peaceably under the guns of our batteries, 
while her commander, and, indeed, some of her crew, have been 
hospitably entertained on shore.” 

“ Such things must occur, in times like these, Mr. Veechy- 
Governatory ; and we seamen set them down to the luck of 
war,” Cufife answered graciously, being much too magnanimous, 
under his own success, to think of judging others too harshly. 
“ It might not be so easy to deceive a man-of-war’s-man like 
myself; but, I dare say, Vecehy-Governatory, had it been 
anything relating to the administration of your little island, here, 
even Monsieur Yvard would have found you too much for him !” 
The reader will perceive that Cuffe had got a new way of 
pronouncing the appellation of the Elban functionary ; a cir- 
cumstance that was owing to the desire we all have, when 
addressing foreigners, to speak in their own language rather 
than in our own. The worthy captain had no more precise 
ideas of what a vice-governor means, than the American people, 
just now, seem to possess of the signification of vice-president ; 
but, as he had discovered that the word was pronounced 
“ veechy,” in Italian, he was quite willing to give it its true 
sound ; albeit a smile struggled round the mouth of Griffin 
while he listened. 


WIN6-AND-WING. 


207 


“ You do me no more than justice, Signor Kooffe, or Sir 
Kooffe, as, I presume, I ought to address you,” answered the 
functionary ; “ for, in matters touching our duties on shore 
here, we are by no means as ignorant as on matters touching 
your honorable calling. This Raoul Yvard presented himself 
to me in the character of a British officer, one I esteem and 
respect ; having audaciously assumed the name of a family of 
high condition, and of great power, I believe, among your 
people — ” 

“ Ah — the Barone !” exclaimed Cuffe, who, having discovered 
by his intercourse with the southern Italians that this word 
meant a “ rascal ” as well as a “ baron,” was fond of using it 
on suitable occasions. “ Pray, Veechy-Governatory, what name 
did he assume ? Ca’endish, or Howard, or Seymour, or some 
of • those great nobs, Griffin, I’ll engage ! I wonder that he 
spared Nelson !” 

“ No, Signore, he took the Family appellation of another 
illustrious race. The republican corsair presented himself before 
me as a Sir Smees — the son of a certain Milordo Smees.” 

“ Smees — Smees — Smees ! — I’ve no recollection of any such 
name in the peerage. It can’t be Seymour that the V eechy 
means ! — That is a great name, certainly ; and some of them 
have been in the service ; it is possible this barone may have 
had the impudence to hail for a Seymour !” 

“ I rather think not, Captain Cuffe. ‘ Smees’ is very much 
as an Italian would pronounce ‘ Smith,’ as, you know, the 
French call it ‘ Smeet.’ It will turn out that this Mr. Raoul 
has seized upon the first English name he fell in with, as a man 
overboard clutches at a spar adrift, or a life-buoy ; and that 
happened to be ‘ Smith.’ ” 

“ Who the devil ever heard of a my lord Smith ! A pretty 
sort of aristocracy we should have, Griffin, if it were made up 
of such fellows !” 

“ Why, sir, the name can make no great difference ; the 
deeds and the antiquity forming the essentials.” 

“ And he assumed a title too — Sir Smees ! — I dare say he 


208 


WING-AND-WING. 


was ready to swear His Majesty made him a Knight Banneret, 
under the royal ensign, and on the deck of his own ship ; as 
was done with some of the old admirals. The veechy, however, 
has forgotten a part of the story, as it must have been Sir John , 
or Sir Thomas Smees, at least.” 

“ No, sir ; that is the way with the French and the Italians, 
who do not understand our manner of using Christian names 
with titles ; as in our Sir Edwards, and Lord Harries, and Lady 
Betties.” 

“ Blast the French ! I can believe anything of them , though 
I should have thought that these Italians knew better. How- 
ever, it may be well to give the veechy a hint of what we have 
been saying, or it may seem rude — and, hark’ye, Griffin, while 
you are about it, rub him down a little touching books, and that 
sort of thing ; for the surgeon tells me he has heard of him, in 
Leghorn, as a regular leaf-cutter.” 

The lieutenant did as ordered, throwing in an allusion to 
Andrea’s reputation for learning, that, under the circumstances, 
was not ill-timed ; and which, as it was well enough expressed, 
was exceedingly grateful to his listener just at that awkward 
moment. 

“ My claims to literature are but small, Signore,” answered 
Andrea, with humility, “ as I bes: you will inform Sir Kooffe ; 
but they were sufficient to detect certain assumptions of this 
corsair ; a circumstance that came very near bringing 1 about an 
exposure at a most critical moment. He had the audacity, 
Signore, to wish to persuade me that there was a certain Eng- 
lish orator of the same name, and of equal merit of him of 
Roma and Pompeii — one Sir Cicero !” 

“ The Barone !” again exclaimed Cuffe, when this new offence 
of Raoul’s was explained to him. “ I believe the rascal was up 
to anything. But there is an end of him, now, with all his Sir 
Smees and Sir Ciceroes into the bargain. Just let the veechy 
into the secret of the fellow’s fate, Griffin.” 

Griffin then related to the vice-go vern atore the manner in 
which it was supposed that le Feu-Follet, Raoul Yvard, and all 


WING-AND-WING. 


209 


his associates, had been consumed, like caterpillars on a tree. 
Andrea Barrofaldi listened, with a proper degree of horror 
expressed in his countenance ; but Vito Viti heard the tale with 
signs of indifference and incredulity that he did not care to con- 
ceal. Nevertheless, Griffin persevered, until he had even 
given an account of the manner in which he and Cuffe exa- 
mined the lugger’s anchorage, in the bootless attempt to discover 
the wreck. 

To all this the two functionaries listened with profound 
attention, and a lively surprise. After looking at each other 
several times, and exchanging significant gestures, Andrea 
assumed the office of explaining. 

“ There is some extraordinary mistake in this, Signor Tenente,” 
he said ; “ for Raoul Yvard still, lives. He passed this promon- 
tory just as day dawned in his lugger, this very morning !” 

“ Aye, he has got that notion from having seen the fellow we 
fell in with off the harbor here,” answered Cuffe, when this 
speech was translated to him ; “ and I don’t wonder at it, for 
the two vessels were surprisingly alike. But the Barone that 
we saw burned with our own eyes, Griffin, can never float again. 
I say Barone ; for, in my opinion, the Few -Folly was just as 
much of a rascal as her commander, and all who sailed in her.” 

Griffin explained this ; but it met with no favor from the two 
Italians. 

“ Not so, Signor Tenente — not so,” returned the vice-gover- 
natore ; “ the lugger that passed this morning, we knoiv to be 
le Feu-Follet, inasmuch as she took one of our own feluccas, in 
the course of the night, coming from Livorno, and Raoul Yvard 
permitted her to come in, as he said to her padrone, on account 
of the civil treatment he had received while lying in our port. 
Nay, he even carried his presumption so far, as to send me, by 
means of the same man, the compliments of 4 Sir Smees,’ and 
his hopes of being able, some day, to make his acknowledgments 
in person.” 

The English Captain received this intelligence as might be 
expected ; and unpleasant as it was, after putting various ques- 


210 


WING-AND-WING. 


tions to the vice-governatore, and receiving the answers, he was 
obliged, unwillingly enough, to believe it all. He had brought 
his official report in his pocket ; and, as the conversation pro- 
ceeded, he covertly tore it into fragments so small that even a 
Mahommedan would reject them, as not large enough to write 
the word “Allah” on. 

“ It’s d h lucky, Griffin, that letter didn’t get to Leghorn, 

this morning,” he said, after a long pause, “kelson would 
have Bronted me famously, had he got it ! Yet, I never 
believed half as devoutly in the twenty-nine articles as — ” 

“ I believe there are thirty - nine of them, Captain Cuffe,” 
modestly put in Griffin. 

“ Well, thirty- nine, if you will — what signifies ten, more or 
less, in such matters ? A man .is ordered to believe them all , 
if there were a hundred. But I never believed in them as 
devoutly as I believed in the destruction of that infernal picaroon. 
My faith is unsettled for life !” 

Griffin offered a few words of condolence, but he was also too 
much mortified to be very able to administer consolation. 
Andrea Barrofaldi, understanding the state of the case, now 
interposed with his courtesies, and the two officers were invited 
to share his bachelor's breakfast. What followed, in consequence 
of this visit, and the communications to which it gave rise, will 
appear in the course of the narrative. 


WING-AND-WING. 


211 


CHAPTER XIII. 


“ If ever you have looked on better days, 

If ever been where bells have knolled to church ; 

If ever sat at any good man’s feast ! 

If ever from your eyelids wiped a tear, 

And know what ’tis to pity, and be pitied, 

Let gentleness my strong enforcement be.” 

Shakspeare. 


It is now necessary to advance* the time, and to transfer the 
scene of our tale to another, hut not a distant part of the same 
sea. Let the reader fancy himself standing at the mouth of 
a large hay of some sixteen or eighteen miles in diameter, 
in nearly every direction ; though the shores must he indented 
with advancing promontories and receding curvatures, while the 
depth of the whole might possibly a little exceed the greatest 
width. He will then occupy the spot of which we wish to pre- 
sent to him one of the fairest panoramas of earth. On his right 
stands a high, rocky island of dark tufa, rendered gay, amid all 
its magnificent formations, hy smiling vineyards and teeming 
villages, and interesting hy ruins that commemorate events 
as remote as the Caesars. A narrow passage of the blue Medi- 
terranean separates this island from a hold cape on the main, 
whence follows a succession of picturesque, village-clad heights 
and valleys, relieved hy scenery equally hold and soft, and 
adorned by the monkish habitations called in the language 
of the country Camaldolis, until we reach a small city which 
stands on a plain that rises above the water between one 
and two hundred feet, on a base of tufa, and the houses of 
which extend to the very verge of the dizzy cliffs that limit its 
extent on the north. The plain itself is like a hive, with 
its dwellings and scenes of life, while the heights behind it teem 


212 


W I N G - A N D - W I N G . 


with cottages and the signs of human labor. Quitting this 
smiling part of the coast, we reach a point, always following 
the circuit of the bay, where the hills or heights tower into 
ragged mountains, which stretch their pointed peaks upwards to 
some six or seven thousand feet towards the clouds, having sides 
now wild with precipices and ravines, now picturesque with 
shooting-towers, hamlets, monasteries, and bridle-paths ; and 
bases dotted, or rather lined, with towns and villages. Here the 
mountain formation quits the margin of the bay, following 
the coast southward, or running into the interior of the country ; 
and the shore, sweeping round to the north and west, offers a 
glimpse into a background of broad plain, ere it meets a high, 
insulated, conical mountain, which properly forms the head 
of the coast indentation. The human eye never beheld a more 
affluent scene of houses, cities, villages, vineyards, and country 
residences, than was presented by the broad breast of this isolated 
mountain ; passing which a wider view is obtained of the rich 
plain that seems to lie behind it, bounded as it is by a wall of 
a distant and mysterious-looking, yet bold range of the Apen- 
nines. Returning to the shore, which now begins to incline 
more westwardly, we come to another swell of tufa, which has 
all the characteristic fertility and abruptness of that peculiar for- 
mation, a vast and populous town of near half a million of souls 
being seated, in nearly equal parts, on the limits of the plain, 
and along the margin of the water, or on the hill sides, climb- 
ing to their summits. From this point the northern side of the 
bay is a confused mass of villages, villas, ruins, palaces, and 
vines, until we reach its extremity ; a low promontory, like its 
opposite neighbor. A small island comes next, a sort of natural 
sentinel ; then the coast sweeps northward into another and a 
smaller bay, rich to satiety with relics of the past, terminating 
at a point some miles further seaward, with a high, reddish, 
sandy bluff, which almost claims to be a mountain. After this 
we see two more islands, lying westward, one of which is flat, 
fertile, and more populous, as is said, than any other part 
of Europe of the same extent ; while the other is a glorious 


WIN G-AND-WING. 


213 


combination of pointed mountains, thronged towns, fertile 
valleys, castles, country houses, and the wrecks of long-dormant 
volcanoes, thrown together in a grand, yet winning confusion. 
If the reader will, to this description, add a shore that has 
scarce a foot that is not interesting with some lore of the past, 
extending from yesterday into the darkest recesses of history, give 
life to the water-view with a fleet of little latine-rigged craft, 
rendered more picturesque by an occasional ship, dot the bay 
with countless boats of fishermen, and send up a wreath of 
smoke from the summit of the cone-like mountain that forms 
the head of the bay, he will get an outline of all that strikes the 
eye, as the stranger approaches Naples from the sea. 

The zephyr w*as again blowing, and the daily fleet of spara- 
naras, or undecked feluccas, that passes every morning, at this 
season, from the south shore to the capital, and returns at this 
hour, was stretching out from under Vesuvius ; some looking 
up as high as Massa ; others heading towards Sorrento, or 
Vico, or Persano, and many keeping more before the wind, 
towards Castel a Mare, or the landings in that neighborhood. 
The breeze was getting to be so fresh, that the fishermen were 
beginning to pull in towards the land, breaking up their lines, 
which, in some places, had extended nearly a league, and this, 
too, with the boats lying within speaking distance of each other. 
The head of the bay, indeed, was alive with craft moving in 
different directions, while a large fleet of English, Russians, 
Neapolitans, and Turks, composed of two-deckers, frigates, and 
sloops, lay at their anchors in front of the town. On board of 
one of the largest of the former, was flying the flag of a rear- 
admiral at the mizen, the symbol of the commander’s rank. A 
corvette, alone, was under-way. She had left the anchorage an 
hour before, and with studding-sails on her starboard side, was 
stretching diagonally across the glorious bay, apparently head- 
ing towards the passage between Capri and the Point of Cam- 
panella, bound to Sicily. This ship might easily have weathered 
the island ; but her commander, an easy sort of person, chose to 
make a fair wind of it from the start, and he thought, by hug- 


214 


W.I NG-AND-WING. 


ging the coast, he plight possibly benefit by the land-breeze 
during the night, trusting to the zephyr that was then blowing, 
to carry him across the Gulf of Salerno. A frigate, too, shot 
out of the fleet, under her staysails, as soon as the westerly wind 
made ; but she had dropped an anchor under-foot, and seemed 
to wait some preparation, or orders, before taking her departure ; 
her captain being at that moment on board the flag-ship, on 
duty with the rear-admiral. This was the Proserpine thirty-six, 
Captain Cuffe, a vessel and an officer that are already both 
acquaintances of the reader. About an hour before the present 
scene opens, Captain Cuffe, in fact, had been called on board 
Foudroyant by signal, where he had found a small, sallow-looking, 
slightly-built man, with his right arm wanting, pacing the deck 
of the fore-cabin, impatient for his appearance. 

“ Well, Cuffe,” said this uninviting-looking personage, 
twitching the stump of the maimed arm, “ I see you are out of 
the flock ; are you all ready for sailing ?” 

“ We have one boat ashore after letters, my lord ; as soon as 
she comes off, we shall lift our anchor, which is only under- 
foot,” 

“Very well — I have sent the Ringdove to the southward, on 
the same errand, and I see she is half-a-league from the anchor- 
age, on her way, already. This Mr. Griffin appears to be a fine 
young man — I like his account of the w ay he handled his fire- 
ship ; though the French scoundrel did contrive to escape ! 
After all, this Rowl E — E — how do you pronounce the fellow’s 
name, Cuffe, I never can make anything out of their gib- 
berish — ” 

“ Why, to own the truth, Sir Horatio — I beg pardon — my 
lord — there is something in the English grain of my feelings 
that would prevent my ever learning French, had I been born 
and brought up in Paris. There is too much Saxon in me to 
swallow words that half the time have no meaning 1 .” 

“ I like you all the better for that, Cuffe,” answered the 
admiral, smiling, a change that converted a countenance that 
was almost ugly, when in a state of rest, into one that was 


WING-AND-WING. 


215 


almost handsome — a peculiarity that is by no means of rare 
occurrence, when a strong will gives expression to the features, 
and the heart, at bottom, is really sound. “ An Englishman has 
no business with any Gallic tendencies. This young Mr. Grif- 
fin seems to have spirit ; and I look upon it always as a good 
sign, when a young man volunteers for a desperate thing of 
this sort — but he tells me he is only second ; where was your 
first, all the while ?” 

“ Why, my lord, he got a little hurt in the brush of the 
morning ; and I would not let him go, as a matter of course. 
His name is Winchester ; I think you must remember him, as 
junior of the Captain, at the affair off St. Vincent. Miller* 
had a good opinion of him ; and, when I went from the Arrow 
to the Proserpine, he got him sent as my second. The death 
of poor Drury made him first, in the natural way.” 

“ I have some recollection of him, Cuffe. That was a brilliant 
day, and all its events should be impressed on my mind. You 
tell me, Mr. Griffin fairly grappled the lugger’s cable ?” 

“ Of that there can be no manner of doubt. I saw the two 
vessels foul of each other, with my night-glass — and, seemingly, 
both were on fire — as plainly as I ever saw Vesuvius, in a dark 
night.” 

“ And yet this Few-Folly has escaped ! Poor Griffin has run 
a desperate risk for little purpose.” 

“ He. has, indeed, my lord.” 

Here, Nelson, who had been pacing the cabin with quick 
steps, while Cuffe stood, respectfully declining the gesture 
to be seated, at the table in its centre, suddenly stopped, and 
looked the Captain steadily in the face. The expression of his 
countenance was now mild and earnest, and the pause which 
preceded his words gave the latter solemnity and weight. 

*• r 

* Ralph Willet Miller, the officer who commanded the ship to which Nelson 
shifted his pennant, at the battle of Cape St. Vincent. This gentleman was an 
American, and a native Manhattanese ; his near relatives of the same name still 
residing in New York. It is believed that he got the name of Willet from the first 
English Mayor, a gentleman from whom are descended many of the old families 
of the lower part of the state ; more particularly those on Long Island. 


216 


WING-AND-WING. 


“ The day will come, Cuffe,” he said, “ when this young 
man will rejoice that his design on these picaroons, Frenchmen 
as they are, failed. Yes, from the bottom of his heart will he 
be glad.” 

“ My lord !” 

“ I know you think this strange, Captain Cuffe ; but no man 
sleeps the sounder for having burnt or blown up a hundred of 
his fellow-creatures, like so many widows at a suttee. But we 
are not the less to commend those who did what was certainly 
their duty.” 

“ Am I to understand, Lord Nelson, that the Proserpine is 
not to destroy the Few -Folly at every hazard, should we again 
have the luck to fall in with her ?” 

“ By no means, sir. Our orders are to burn, sink, and 
destroy. Such is England’s policy, in this desperate war ; and 
it must be carried out. You know what we are contending for 
as well as I do ; and it is a struggle that is not to be carried on 

7 OO 

with courtesies ; still, one would not wish to see a glorious and 
sacred cause tarnished by inhumanity. Men that fall in fair, 
manly combat, are to be envied rather than pitied, since it is only 
paying the great debt of nature a little sooner than might other- 
wise have happened ; but there is something revolting to 
humanity in burning up our fellow-creatures as one would burn 
rags after the plague. Nevertheless, this lugger must be had 
at any price ; for English commerce and English power are not 
to be cut up and braved, in this audacious manner, with 
impunity. The career of these French tigers must be stopped 
at every sacrifice, Captain Cuffe.” 

“ I know that, my lord ; and I like a republican as little as 
you can do ; or His Majesty himself, for that matter ; and, I 
take it, he has as little relish for the animal as flesh and blood 
can give.” 

“ I know you do, Cuffe — I’m sure you do ; and I esteem you 
all the more for it. It is a part of an Englishman’s religion, in 
times like these, to hate a Frenchman. I went across the 
Channel, after the peace of ’83, to learn their language, but had 


WXNG-AND-WING. 


217 


so little sympathy with them, even in peaceable times, as never 
to be able to make out to write a letter in it, or even to ask 
intelligibly for the necessaries of life.” 

“ If you can ask for anything it far surpasses my efforts ; I 
never can tell head from stern in their dialect.” 

“ It is an infernal jargon, Cuffe, and has got to be so con- 
fused by their academies, and false philosophy, and infidelity, 
that they will shortly be at a loss to understand it themselves. 
What sort of names they give their ships, for instance, now 
they have beheaded their king, and denounced their God ! 
Who ever heard of christening a craft, as you tell me this 
lugger is named, the 4 Few-Folly V I believe I’ve got the pica- 
roon’s title right ?” 

44 Quite right — Griffin pronounces it so, though he has got to 
be a little qucerish in his own English, by using so much 
French and Italian. The young man’s father was a consul ; 
and he has half a dozen foreign lingoes stowed away in his brain. 
He pronounces Folly something broadish — like Fol/ay, I 
believe ; but it means all the same thing. Folly is folly, pro- 
nounce it as you will.” 

Nelson continued to pace his cabin, working the stump of his 
arm, and smilino- half-bitterlv ; half in a sort of ironv that 
inclined him to be in a good-humor with himself. 

44 Do you remember the ship, Cuffe, we had that sharp brush 
with off Toulon, in old Agamemnon ?” he said, after making a 
turn or two in silence. “I mean the dismasted eighty-four, 
that was in tow of the frigate, and which we peppered until 
their Gallic soup had some taste to it ! Now', do you happen 
to know her real name, in good honest English ?” 

44 I do not, my lord. I remember, they said she was called 
the Ca Ira ; and I always supposed that it was the name of 
some old Greek or Roman — or, perhaps, of one of their new- 
fangled republican saints.” 

“ They ! — D n 'em, they’ve got no saints, to name, my 

good fellow, since they cashiered all the old ones ! There is 
something respectable in the names of a Spanish fleet ; and one 


218 


WING-AND-WING, 


feels that he is flogging gentlemen, at least, while he is at work 
on them. No, sir, Ca Ira means neither more nor less than 
4 That’ll Do and I fancy, Cuffe, they thought of their own 
name more than once, while the old Greek was hanging on their 
quarter, smashing their cabin windows for them ! A pretty 
sound it would have been, had we got her, and put her into our 
own service — His Majesty’s ship 4 That’ll Do,’ 84, Captain 
Cuffe !” 

44 1 certainly should have petitioned my Lords Commissioners 
to change her name.” 

44 You would have done quite right; A man might as well 
sail in a man-of-war called the 4 Enough.’ Then, there w T as the 
three-decker that helped her out of the scrape, the Sans-Culottes, 
as the French call her ; I suppose you know what that 
means ?” 

44 Not I, my lord ; to own the truth, I’m no scholar ; and am 
entirely without ambition in that way. 4 Sans,’ I suppose, is 
the French for 4 saint but who 4 Culottes’ was, I’ve not the least 
notion.” 

Nelson smiled, and the turn the conversation had taken 
appeared to give him secret satisfaction. If the truth were 
known, something lay heavily on his mind ; and, with one of his 
strong impulses, his feelings disposed him to rush from one 
extreme to the other, as is often the case with men who are 
controlled by such masters ; more especially if their general 
disposition is to the right. 

44 You’re wrong this time, my dear Cuffe,” he said ; 44 for 
4 sans’ means ‘without’ in French, and ‘culottes’ means 
4 breeches.’ Think of naming a three-decker, the 4 Without 
Breeches !’ I do not see how any respectable flag-officer can 
mention such names in his despatches, without a feeling of 
awkwardness, that must come near to capsizing all his philosophy. 
The line was formed by the Republic’s ship, the 4 That’ll Do,’ 
leading, supported by the 4 Without Breeches,’ as her second 

astern ! — Ha ! Cuffe — D e, sir, if I’d serve in a marine that 

had such names to the ships ! It’s a thousand times worse 


WING-AND-WING. 


219 


than all those saints the Spaniards tack on to their vessels — 
like a line of boats, towing a ship up to her moorings !” 

Here the conversation was interrupted by the appearance of 
a midshipman, who came down to say that a man and a woman, 
from the shore, wished to see the rear-admiral on pressing business. 

“ Let them come down, sir,” answered Nelson ; “ I’ve a hard 
life of it, Cuffe ; there is not a washerwoman or a shopkeeper 
"in Naples, who does not treat me exactly as if I were a podesta, 
and it were my duty to hear all the contentions about lost 
clothes and mislaid goods. His Majesty must appoint a Lord 
Chief Justice of the Steerage, to administer the law for the 
benefit of the young gentlemen, or he’ll soon get no officer to 
serve with a flag at his mast-head.” 

“ Surely, my lord, the captains can take this weight off your 
shoulders !” 

“ Aye, there are men in the fleet that can , and there are men 
who do ; but there are men who do not. But here comes the 
plaintiff, I suppose — you shall hear the case, and act as a puisne 
judge in the matter.” 

This was said as the cabin-door opened, and the expected 
guests entered. They were, a man turned of fifty, and a girl of 
nineteen. The former was a person of plain exterior, abstracted 
air, and downcast look ; but the latter had all the expression, 
beauty, nature, and grace of mien, that so singularly marked the 
deportment and countenance of Ghita Caraccioli.* In a word, 
the two visitors were Carlo Giuntotardi and his gentle niece. 
Nelson was struck with the modesty of mien and loveliness of 
the latter, and he courteously invited her to be seated, though 
he and Cuffe both continued standing. A few efforts at making 
himself understood, however, soon satisfied this renowned admiral 
that he had need of an interpreter, his guests speaking no 
English, and his own Italian being too imperfect to carry on 
anything like a connected conversation. He hesitated an instant, 

* It may aid the reader who is ignorant of Italian, to tell him that this name is 
pronounced Ca-rach-cho-li. The same is true of Gwee-cho-li — or Guiccioli — Byron’s 
mistress. 


220 


WING-AND-WIN G. 


and then went to the door of the inner cabin, an apartment in 
which voices had occasionally been heard the whole time, one 
of the speakers being a female. Here he stood, leaning against 
the bulkhead, as if in doubt ; and then he uttered his wishes. 

“I must ask a service of you, which I would not think of 
doing in any ordinary case,” he said, with a gentleness of voice 
and manner that showed he addressed one who had habitual 
influence over him. “ I want an interpreter between myself 
and the second handsomest woman in the kingdom of Naples: 
I know no one so fit for the office as the first.” 

“ With all my heart, dear Nelson,” answered a full, rich 
female voice from within. “ Sir William is busied in his 
antiquities ; and I was really getting to be ennuied for want of 
an occupation. I suppose you have the wrongs of some injured 
lady to redress in your capacity of Lord High Chancellor of the 
Fleet.” 

“ I am yet ignorant of the nature of the complaint ; but it is 
not unlikely it will turn out to be something like that which you 
suspect. Even in such a case no better intercessor can be 
required, than one who is so much superior to the frailties and 
weaknesses of her sex in general.” 

The lady who now made her appearance from the inner 
cabin, though strikingly handsome, had not that in her appear- 
ance which would justify the implied eulogium of the British 
admiral’s last speech. There was an appearance of art and 
worldliness in the expression of her countenance that was only 
so much the more striking, when placed in obvious contrast to 
the ingenuous nature and calm purity that shone in every linea- 
ment of the face of Gliita. One might very well have passed 
for an image of the goddess Circe ; while the other would have 
made no bad model for a vestal, could the latter have borne the 
moral impression of the sublime and heart-searching truths that 
are inculcated by the real oracles of God. Then the lady was a 
woman in the meridian of her charms, aided by all the cunning 
of the toilet, and a taste that was piquant and peculiar, if not 
pure ; while the other stood in her simple, dark Neapolitan 


WING-AND-WING. 


221 


boddice, and a bead that had no other ornament than its own 
silken tresses ; a style of dress, however, that set off her fault- 
less form and winning countenance more than could have been 
done by any of the devices of the mantua-maker or the milliner. 
The lady betrayed a little surprise, and, perhaps, a shade of 
uneasiness, as her glance first fell on Ghita ; but, much too 
good an actress to be disconcerted easily, she smiled, and 
immediately recovered her ease. 

“ Is this the being, Nelson, who comes with such a petition ?” 
she demanded, with a touch of natural, womanly sensibility in 
her voice “ and that poor old man, I dare say, is the heart- 
stricken father.” 

“ As to the errand, you will remember, I know nothing as 
yet ; and pledge myself to nothing.” 

“ Captain Cuffe, I hope I have the pleasure to see you well. 
Sir William joins the admiral in hoping you will make one of 
our little family party to-day, at dinner, and — ” 

“ And what says the mistress — not of the house, but of the 
ship ? v put in Nelson, whose eyes had scarce turned an instant 
from the face of the siren since she entered the fore-cabin. 

“ That she — always disclaiming the title, honorable though 
it be — that she unites with all the rest in inviting Captain 
Cuffe to honor us with his company. Nelson tells me you 
were one of his old Agamemnons, as he calls you all, aged and 
young, men and boys, little and big ; and I love even the sound 
of the name. What a glorious title for a ship — Agamemnon ! 
— A Greek, led on by a true English heart 1” 

“Aye, it is somewhat better than ‘That’ll Do,’ and the 
other affair, ha ! Cuffe !” returned the admiral, smiling, and 
glancing at his subordinate ; “ but all this time we are ignorant 
of the errand of this honest-looking Italian, and his exceedingly 
innocent looking companion.” 

“Well, then, in this matter, gentlemen, I am only to be 
regarded as a mere mouth-piece,” put in the lady — “ an echo, 
to repeat what reaches mine ear, though it be an Irish echo, 
which repeats in a different tongue from that in which the 


222 


WING-AND-WING. 


sounds first reach it. Put your questions, my lord ; they shall 
be faithfully rendered, with all the answers that may be given. 
I only hope Captain Cuffe will come out of this affair as 
innocent as he now r looks.” 

The two gentlemen smiled ; but the trifling could not disturb 
its subject, as he was profoundly ignorant of the existence of 
the two strangers, five minutes before ; while the boldness of 
the allusion rather suited the freedom of a ship, and the habits 
of the part of the world in which they happened to be. 

“ We will first inquire the name of this worthy man, if you 
will condescend to ask it,” observed Nelson, to his fair friend. 

“ Carlo Giuntotardi, noble lady — once a poor scholar, in 
Napoli, here, and now a keeper of the prince’s watch towers 
on the heights of Argentaro,” was the quiet, but respectful 
answer of the man, who, like his niece, had declined taking a 
seat, a circumstance that left the whole party standing ! u Carlo 
Giuntotardi, illustrious lady.” 

“ A very good name, Signore, and one of which you have 
no need to be ashamed. And thine ?” turning to the girl. 

“ Ghita Caraccioli, Eccellenza ; the sister’s daughter of this 
honest tower-keeper of the prince.” 

Had a bomb exploded over the Foudroyant, Nelson certainly 
would not have been as much startled ; while the lady’s beautiful 
face assumed a look of dark resentment, not unmingled with fear. 
Even Cuffe understood enough of tlje sounds to catch the name, 
and he advanced a step, with lively curiosity, and an anxious 
concern expressed on his ruddy face. But these emotions soon 
subsided, the lady first regaining her self-possession, though 
Nelson paced the cabin five or six times, working the stump of 
his arm, before he even looked up again. 

“ I was about to ask if there never is to be an end to these 
annoyances,” observed the lady, in English ; “ but there must 
be some mistake in this. The house of Caraccioli is one of the 
most illustrious of Italy, and can scarcely have any of this class, 
who feel an interest in him of whom we are thinking. I will, 
therefore, inquire further into this matter. Signorina,” — changing 


WING-AND'WING. 


223 


the language to Italian, and speaking with severity, like one who 
questioned what she heard— “ Caraecioli is a noble name ; and 
is not often borne by the daughter of any prince’s tower keepers !” 
Gliita trembled, and she looked abashed. But she was sus- 
tained by too high a principle, and was too innocent, herself, to 
stand long rebuked in the presence of guilt ; and, as the hush 
which resembled that which so often passes over her native skies 
at even, left her countenance, she raised her eyes to the dark 
looking face of the lady, and gave her answer. 

“ I know what your Eccellenza means,” she said, “ and feel 
its justice. Still it is cruel to the child, not to bear the name 
of her parent. My father was called Caraecioli ; and he left 
me his name as my sole inheritance. What may have been 
his right to it, let my uncle say.” 

“ Speak, then, Signor Giuntotardi. First, give us the history 
of this name ; then tell us what has brought you here.” 

“ Noble lady, my sister, as pious and innocent a woman as 
ever lived in Italy, and now blessed in heaven, married Don 

4/ ' ' 

Francesco Caraecioli, the son of Don Francesco of that illus- 
trious family, who now stands condemned to death, for 
having led the fleet against the king ; and Gliita here, is 
the only fruit of the union. It is true, that the church did 
not authorize the connexion which brought my niece’s father 
into being ; but the noble admiral never hesitated to acknow- 
ledge his son, and he gave him his name, until love bound him in 
wedlock with a poor scholar’s sister. Then, indeed, his father 
turned his face from him ; and death soon removed both hus- 
band and wife from the reach of all earthly displeasure. This 
is our simple story, noble and illustrious signora ; and the reason 
why my poor niece, here, bears the name as great as that of 
Caraecioli.” 

“ You mean us to understand, Signor Giuntotardi, that your 
niece is the grand-daughter of Don Francesco Caraecioli, 
through a natural son of that unfortunate admiral ?” 

“ Such is the fact, Signora. As my sister was honestly 
married, I could do no less than bring up her daughter to 


6 . 


224 


WING-AND-WING. 


bear a name that her father was permitted to bear before 
her.” 

“ Such things are common, and require no apology. One 
question more, before I explain to the English admiral what 
you have said. Does Prince Caraccioli know of the existence 
of this grand-daughter ?” 

“ Eccellenza, I fear not. Her parents died so soon — I loved 
the child so well — and there was so little hope that one, illus- 
trious as he, would wish to acknowledge a connexion through 
the holy church, with persons humble as we, that I have 
never done more to make my niece known, than to let her bear 
the same name as her father.” 

The lady seemed relieved by this ; and she now briefly 
explained to Nelson the substance of what the other had 
said. 

“ It may be,” she added, “ they are here on that errand, 
concerning which we have already heard so much, and so use- 
lessly ; but I rather think not, from this account ; for what 
interest can they feel in one who is absolutely a stranger to 
them. It may be some idle conceit, however, connected with 
this same affair. What is your wish, Ghita ? This is Don 
Horatio Nelsoni, the illustrious English admiral, of whom you 
have heard so much.” 

“ Eccellenza, I am sure of it,” answered Ghita, earnestly ; 
“ my good uncle, here, has told you who we are ; and you may 
well guess our business. We came from St. Agata, on the 
other side of the bay, only this morning, and heard from a 
relation in the town, that Don Francesco had been seized that 
very hour. Since, we are told that he has been condemned to 
die, for treason against the king ; and that, by officers who met 
in this very ship. Some even say, Signora, that he is to meet 
his fate ere the sun set ?” 

“ If this should be so, what reason is it that thou shouldst 
give thyself concern ?” 

“ Eccellenza, he was my father’s father ; and though I never 
saw him, I know that the same blood runs in our veins. 


* 


WING-AND-WING. 


225 


When this is so, there should be the same feelings in our 
hearts.” 

“ This is well, Ghita, in appearance, at least ; but thou canst 
hardly feel much for one thou never saw’st, and who has even 
refused to own thee for a child. Thou art young, too, and of a 

sex that should ever be cautious ; it is unwise for men, even, to 

• • • • • f 

meddle with politics in these troubled times.” 

“ Signora, it is not politics that brings me here, but nature, 
and duty, and pious love for my father’s father.” 

“ What wouldst thou say, then V’ answered the lady impa- 
tiently ; u remember thou occupiest one whose time is precious, 
and of high importance to entire nations.” 

“ Eccellenza, I believe it ; and will try to be brief. I wish to 
beg my grandfather’s life, of this illustrious stranger. They tell 
me the king will refuse him nothing ; and he has only to ask it 
of Don Ferdinando, to obtain it.” 

Many would have thought the matured charms of the lady 
superior to the innocent-looking beauty of the girl ; but no one 
could have come to such an opinion, who saw them both at 
that moment. While Ghita’s face was radiant with a holy hope, 
and the pious earnestness which urged her on, a dark expression 
lowered about the countenance of the English beauty, that 
deprived it of one of its greatest attractions, by depriving it of 
the softness and gentleness of her sex. Had there not been 
observers of what passed, it is probable the girl would have been 
abruptly repulsed ; but management formed no small part of 
the character of this woman, and she controlled her feelings, in 
order to effect her purposes. 

“ This admiral is not a Neapolitan, but an Englishman,” she 
answered ; “ and can have no concern with the justice of your 
king. He would scarcelv think it decent to interfere with the 
execution of the laws of Naples.” 

“ Signora, it is always decent to interfere to save life ; nay, it 
is more — it is merciful, in the eves of God.” 

“ What canst thou know of this ? A conceit that thou hast 
the blood of the Caraceioli has made thee forget thy sex and 

10 * 


226 


WING-AND-WING. 


condition, and placed a romantic notion of duty before thine 
eyes.” 

u No, Signora, it is not so. For eighteen years have I been 
taught that the unfortunate admiral was my grandfather ; but, 
as it has been his pleasure to wish not to see me, never have I 
felt the desire to intrude on his time. Before this morning, 
never has the thought that I have the blood of the Caraccioli 
crossed my mind, unless it was to mourn for the sin of my grand- 
mother ; and even now, it has come to cause me to mourn for 
the cruel fate that threatens the days of her partner in guilt.” 

“ Thou art bold to speak thus of thy parents, girl ; and they, 
too, of the noble and great !” 

This was said with a flushed brow, and still more lowering 
look ; for, haply, there were incidents in the past life of that 
lady which made the simple language of a severe morality 
alike offensive to her ears and her recollections. 

“ It is not I, Eccellenza, but God, that speaketh thus. The 
crime, too, is another reason wdiy this great admiral should use 
his influence to save a sinner from so hurried an end. Death is 
terrible to all, but to those who trust, with heart and soul, to 
the mediation of the Son of God ; but it is doubly so when it 
comes suddenly and unlooked for. It is true, Don Francesco 
is aged ; but have you not remarked, signora, that it is these 
very aged who become hardened to their state, and live on, as 
if never to die ? — I mean those aged, who suffer youth to pass, 
as if the pleasures of life are never to have an end.” 

“ Thou art too young to set up for a reformer of the world, 
girl ; and forgettest that this is the ship of one of the greatest 
officers of Europe, and that he has many demands on his time. 
Thou canst now go ; I will repeat what thou hast said.” 

“ I have another request to ask, Eccellenza — permission to 
see Don Francesco ; that I may at least receive his blessing.” 

“ He is not in this ship. Thou wilt find him on board the 
Minerva frigate ; no doubt, he will not be denied. Stop — these 
few lines will aid thy request. Addio, signorina.” 

“ And may I carry hope with me, Eccellenza ? Think how r 


W1N6-AND-WIN G. 


227 


sweet life is to those who have passed their days so long in 
affluence and honor. It would be like a messenger from heaven 
for a grandchild to bring but a ray of hope.” 

“ I authorize none. The matter is in the hands of the 
Neapolitan authorities ; and we English cannot meddle. Go, 
now, both of you — the illustrious admiral has business of 

s' 

importance that presses.” 

Ghita turned, and slowly and sorrowfully she left the cabin. 
At the very door, she met the English lieutenant, who was in 
charge of the unhappy prisoner, coming with a last request that 
he might not be suspended like a thief, but might at least die 
the death of a soldier. It would exceed the limits set to our 
tale, were we to dwell on the conversation which ensued ; but 
every intelligent reader knows that the application failed. 


228 


WING-AND-WlNG. 


CHAPTER XIV. 


“ Like other tyrants, Death delights to smite 
W hat smitten most procluims the pride of power, 

And arbitrary nod.” Youno. 


It is probable that Nelson never knew precisely what passed 
between Ghita and the lady mentioned in the last chapter. At 
all events, like every other application that was made to the 
English admiral, in connexion with this sad affair, that of 
Ghita produced no results. Even the mode of execution was 
unchanged ; an indecent haste accompanying the whole trans- 
action, as in the equally celebrated trial and death of the 
unfortunate Due d'Enghien. Cuffe remained to dine with the 
commander-in-chief, while Carlo Giuntotardi and his niece got 
into their boat, and took their way through the crowded road- 
stead towards the Neapolitan frigate that now formed the prison 
of the unfortunate Caraccioli. 

A request, at the gangway, was all that was necessary to 
procure an admission on board the ship. As soon as the 
Signor Giuntotardi reached the quarter-deck he let his errand 
be known, ( and a messenger was sent below to ascertain if the 
prisoner would see two visitors, the name of the uncle being 
alone given. Francesco Caraccioli, of the Princes Caraccioli, or, 
as he was more commonly called in English, Prince Caraccioli, 
was now a man approaching seventy ; and being a mem- 
ber of one of the most illustrious houses of Lower Italy, he 

* * 

had long been trusted in employments of high dignity and 
command. On his offence — its apology — the indecent haste 
of his trial and execution, and the irregularity of the whole 
proceedings, it is now unnecessary to dwell ; they have all passed 

into history, and are familiarly known to the world. That very 


WIN Gr-AND-WING. 


229 


ant ; in the cabin of that vessel had a court of his own country- 
men convened ; and there had he been has til v condemned to 
death. The hour of doom was near ; and he was already in 
the ship where the execution was to take place. 

The messenger of Carlo Giuntotardi found this unfortunate 
man with his confessor, by whom he had just been shrived. 
He heard the request with cold indifference, but granted it on 
the instant, under the impression that it came from some 
dependent of his family or estates, who had a last favor to ask, 
or an act of justice to see performed. 

“vRemain here, father, I beseech you,” said the prisoner, per- 
ceiving that the priest was about to retire ; “ it is some contadino, 
or some tradesman, whose claims have been overlooked. I am 
happy that he has come ; one would wish to stand acquitted of 
injustice before he dies. Let them come in, my friend.” 

A sign was given with these words, the door of the cabin was 
opened, and Ghita, with her uncle, entered. A pause of quite 
a minute followed, during which the parties regarded each other 
in silence ; the prisoner endeavoring, in vain, to recall the coun- 
tenances of his guests, and the girl trembling, equally with grief 
and apprehension. Then the last advanced to the feet of the 
condemned man, knelt, bowed her head, and said — 

“ Grandfather, your blessing on the child of your only 


son. 




“Grandfather! — Son! — and his child!” repeated Don Fran- 
cesco. “ I had a son, to my shame and contrition be it now 
confessed ; but he has long been dead. I never knew that he 
left a child !” 

“ This is his daughter, Signore,” replied Carlo Giuntotardi ; 
“her mother was my sister. You thought us then too humble 
to be received into so illustrious a connexion ; and we have 
never wished to bring ourselves before your eyes, until we 
thought oar presence might be welcome.” 

“ And thou comest now, good man, to claim affinity with a 
condemned criminal !” 

“ Not so, grandfather,” answered a meek voice at his feet, 


230 


WING-AND-WING. 


“ it is your son’s daughter that craves a blessing from her dying 
parent. The boon shall be well requited in prayers for your soul !” 
“ Holy father ! I deserve not this ! Here has this tender 
plant lived, neglected in the shade, until it raises its timid head 
to offer its fragrance in the hour of death ! I deserve not this !” 
“Son, if heaven offered no mercies until they are merited, 
hopeless, truly, would be the lot of man. But we must not 
admit illusions at such a moment. Thou art not a husband, 
Don Francesco; hadst thou ever a son?” 

“ That, among other sins, have I long since confessed ; and, 
as it has been deeply repented of, I trust it is forgiven. I had a 
son — a youth who bore my name, even ; though he never dwelt 
in my palace ; until a hasty and indiscreet marriage banished him 
from my presence. I ever intended to pardon him, and to make 
provision for his wants; but death came too soon to both hus- 
band and wife to grant the time. This much I did know, and 
it grieved me that it was so ; but of his child, never, before this 
instant, have I heard! ’Tis a sweet countenance, father; it 
seems the very abode of truth !” 

“ Why should we deceive you, grandfather?” rejoined Ghita, 
stretching her arms upwards, as if yearning for an embrace ; 
“most of all at a time like this! We come not for honors, or 
riches, or your great name ; we come simply to crave a blessing, 
and to let you know that a child of your own blood will be left 
on earth, to say aves in behalf of your soul !” 

“ Holy priest, there can be no deception here ! This dear 
child even looks like her wronged grandmother ! and my heart 
tells me she is mine. I know not whether to consider this dis- 
covery a good or an evil, at this late hour, coming, as it does, to 
a dying man !” 

“ Grandfather, your blessing. Bless Ghita once, that I may 
hear the sound of a parent’s benediction.” 

“Bless thee ! — bless thee, daughter !” exclaimed the admiral, 
bending over the weeping girl, to do the act she solicited, and 
then raising her to his arms, and embracing her tenderly ; “ this 
must be my child — I feel that she is no other.” 


WIN6-AND-WIN6. 


231 


u Eccellenza,” said Carlo, “ she is the daughter of your son, 
Don Francesco, and of my sister Ghita Giuntotardi, born in law- 
ful wedlock. I would not deceive any — least of all a dying 
man.’’ 

“ I have no estate to bequeathe — no honors to transmit — no 
name to boast of. Better the offspring of the lazzaroni than a 
child of Francesco Caraccioli, at this moment.” 

“ Grandfather, we think not of this — care not for this. I 
have come only to ask the blessing you have bestowed, and to 
offer the prayers of believers, though we are so lowly. More 
than this we ask not — wish not — seek not. Our poverty is 
familiar to us, and we heed it not. Riches would but distress 
us, and we care not for them.” 

“ I remember, holy father, that one great reason of displeasure 
at my son’s marriage, was distrust of the motive of the family 
which received him ; yet here have these honest people suffered 
me to live on unmolested in prosperity, while they now first 
claim the affinity in my disgrace and ignominy ! I have not 
been accustomed to meet with wishes and hearts like these !” 

“ You did not know us, grandfather,” said Ghita simply, her 
face nearly buried in the old man’s bosom. “ We have long 
prayed for you, and reverenced you, and thought of you as a 
parent, whose face was turned from us in anger; but we never 
sought your gold and honors.” 

“ Gold and honors !” repeated the admiral, gently placing 
his grand-daughter in a chair. “ These are things of the past 
for me. My estates are sequestered — my name disgraced ; and, 
an hour hence, I shall have suffered an ignominious death. No 
selfish views can have brought these good people, father, to claim 
affinity with me at a moment like this.” 

“ It comes from the goodness of God, son. By letting you 
feel the consolation of this filial love, and by awakening in your 
own bosom the spark of parental affection, he foreshadows 
the fruits of his own mercy and tenderness to the erring but 
penitent. Acknowledge his bounty in your soul ; it may bring 
a blessing on your last moment.” 


» 


232 


W I N 6 * A N D • W I N O , 


“ Holy priest, I hope I do. But what says this ? — ” 

Don Francesco took a note from the hand of a servant, and 
read its contents eagerly ; the world, and its feelings, having too 
much hold on his heart to be plucked out in an instant. Indeed 
so sudden had been his arrest, trial, and conviction, that it is not 
surprising the priest found in him a divided spirit, even at an 
instant like that. His countenance fell ; and he passed a hand 
before his eyes, as if to conceal a weakness that was unbecoming. 

“ They have denied my request, father,” he said ; “ and I 
must die like a felon — ” 

“ The Son of God suffered on the cross, suspended between 
thieves.” 

“ I believe there is far less in these opinions than we are 
accustomed to think — yet it is cruel for one who has filled so high 
employments — a prince — a Caraccioli, to die like a lazzarone !” 

“ Grandfather — ” 

“ Did you speak, child ? I wonder not that this indignity 
should fill thee with horror.” 

“ It is not that , grandfather,” resumed Ghita, shaking off her 
doubts, and looking up with flushed cheeks, and a face radiant 
with holy feelings — “ Oh ! it is not that. If my life could save 
thine, gladly would I give it up for such a purpose ; but, do 
not — do not — at this awful moment, mistake the shadow for 
the substance. What matters it how death is met, when it 
opens the gates of heaven ? Pain, I am sure, you cannot fear ; 
— even I, weak and feeble girl that I am, can despise that — 
what other honor can there be in the hour of death, than to be 
thought worthy of the mercy and care of God ? Caraccioli or 
lazzarone — prince or beggar — it will matter not, two hours 
hence ; and let me reverently beg of you to humble your 
thoughts to the level which becomes all sinners.” 

“ Thou say’st thou ait my grand-child, Ghita — the daughter 
of my son Francesco ?” 

“ Signore, I am, as all tell me — as my heart tells me — and as 
I believe.” 

u And thou look’st upon these opinions as unworthy — unsuit- 


233 


WING-AND-WING. 

ed , if thou lik’st that better — to this solemn moment, and con- 
siderest the manner of a death matter of indifference, even to 
a soldier ?” 

“ When placed in comparison with his hopes of heaven — 
when viewed through his own demerits, and the merits of his 
Saviour, grandfather.” 

“ And wilt thou, then, just entering on the stage of life, with 
the world before thee, and all that its future can offer, accompany 
me to the scaffold ; let it be known to the mocking crowd that 
thou derivest thy being through the felon, and art not ashamed 
to own him for a parent ?” 

“ I will, grandfather — this have I come to do,” answered 
Ghita, steadily. “ But do not ask me to look upon thy suffer- 
ings ! All that can be done to lessen, by sharing thy disgrace, 
if disgrace it be, will I most gladly do ; though I dread to see 
thy aged form in pain !” 

“ And this wilt thou do for one thou never beheld’st until this 
hour ? — one thou can’st hardly have been taught to consider 
just to thyself?” 

u If I have never seen thee before this visit, grandfather, I 
have loved thee and prayed for thee from infancy. My excel- 
lent uncle early taught me this duty ; but he never taught me 
to hate thee, or any one. My own father is taken away ; and 
that which he would have been to thee, this day, will I endeavor 
to be for him. The world is naught to me ; and it will console 
thee to think that one is near, w hose heart w r eeps for thee, and 
whose soul is lost in prayers for thy eternal pardon.” 

“ And this being, father, is made known to me an hour before 
I die ! God punishes me sufficiently for the wrong I’ve done 
her, in letting me thus know her worth, when it is too late to 
profit by it. No, Ghita — blessed child, such a sacrifice shall 
not be asked of thee. Take this cross — it w r as my mother’s ; 
worn on her bosom, and has long been worn on mine — keep it 
as a memorial of thy unhappy parent, and pray for me ; but 
quit this terrible ship, and do not grieve thy gentle spirit with 
a scene that is so unfit for thy sex and years. Bless thee — bless 


234 


WING-AND-WING. 


thee, ray child. Would to heaven I had earlier known thee — 
but even this glimpse of thy worth has lightened my heart. 
Thou find’st me here a poor condemned criminal ; unable to 
provide for thy future wants — nay, I can yet do a little for thee, 
too. This bag contains gold. It has been sent to me by a 
relative, thinking it might be of service in averting the punish- 
ment that awaits me. For that purpose it is now useless ; with 
thy simple habits, however, it will render thy life easy and above- 
care.” 

Ghita, with streaming eyes, steadily put aside the gold, 
though she jiressed the cross to her bosom, kissing it fervently 
again and again. 

O o 

“ Not that — not that, grandfather,” she said ; “ I want it not 
— wish it not. This is enough ; and this will I keep to my own 
last moment. I will quit the ship, too ; but not the place. I 
see many boats collecting, and mine shall be among them ; my 
prayers shall go up to God for thee, now thou art living ; and 
daily, after thou art dead. There needs no gold, grandfather, 
to purchase a daughter’s prayers.” 

Don Francesco regarded the zealous and lovely girl with 
intense feeling ; then he folded her to his heart once more, 
blessing her audibly, again and again. While thus employed, 
the Foudroy ant’s bell struck once, and then those of all the sur- 
rounding ships, English and Neapolitan, repeated the stroke. 
This, Caraccioli, a seaman himself, well knew denoted that the 
time was half-past four ; five being the hour named for his exe- 
cution. He felt it necessary, therefore, to dismiss his new found 
relative, that he might pass a few more minutes alone with his 
confessor. The parting was solemn, but tender ; and as Ghita 
left the cabin, her condemned grandfather felt as lie would, had 
he taken leave for ever of one whom he had long loved, and 
whose virtues had been a solace to him from the hour of his 
birth. 

The deck of the Minerva presented a sorrowful scene. 
Although the prisoner had been condemned by a court of Nea- 
politan officers, the trial was had under the British ensign ; and 


WING-AND-WING. 


235 


the feeling of the public was with the prisoner. There existed 
no necessity for the hurry in which everything had been done ; 
no immediate danger pressed, and an example would have been 
more impressive, had there been less of the appearance of a 
desire for personal vengeance, and more of the calm deliberation 
of justice in the affair. Ghita’s connexion with the prisoner 
could not be even suspected ; but as it was known that she had 
- been in the cabin, and believed that she felt an interest in the 
condemned, the officers manifested an interest in her wishes and 
too evident emotions. An immense throng of boats had assem- 
bled around the ship ; for, hasty as had been the proceedings, 
the tidings that Francesco Caraccioli was to be hanged for trea- 
son, spread like wild-fire ; and scarce a craft of proper size was 
left within the mole, so eager was the desire to witness that which 
was to occur. Either in the confusion, or bribed by money, the 
man who had brought off Carlo Giuntotardi and his niece, was 
no longer to be found ; and the means of quitting the ship 
seemed, momentarily, to be lost. 

“ Here is a boat, close to our gangway,” said the officer of 
the deck, who had kindly interested himself in behalf of so 
interesting a girl, “ with a single man in it ; a few grani would 
induce him to put you ashore.” 

The fellow in the boat was of the class of the lazzaroni, wearing a 
clean cotton shirt, a Phrygian cap, and cotton trowsers, that 
terminated at the knees, leaving his muscular arms and legs 
entirely bare ; models for the statuary, in their neatness, vigor, 
and proportions. The feet, alone, formed an exception to the 
ordinary attire, for they were cased in a pair of quaint canvas 
shoes, that were ornamented a little like the moccasins of the 
American Indian. Carlo caught the eye of this man, who 
appeared to be eagerly watching the frigate’s gangway for a 
fare, and holding up a small piece of silver, in a moment the 
light boat was at the foot of the accommodation-ladder. Ghita 
now descended ; and as soon as her uncle and she were seated, 
the skiff, for it was little more, whirled away from the ship’s 
side, though two or three more, who had also been left by 




236 


WING-AND-WING. 


recreant boatmen for better fares, called out to him to receive 
them also. 

“We had best go alone, even though it cost us a heavier 
price,” quietly observed Carlo to his niece, as he noted this 
occurrence. “ Pull us a short distance from the ship, friend ; 
— here, where there are fewer boats ; and thou shalt meet with 
a fair reward. We have an interest in this solemn scene, and 
could wish not to be observed.” 

“ I know that well, Signor Carlo,” answered the boatman ; 
“ and will see that you are not molested.” 

Ghita uttered a faint exclamation, and, looking up, first saw 
that the feigned lazzarone was no other than Raoul Yvard. As 
her uncle was too unobservant, in general, to detect his disguise, 
he made a sign for her to command herself, and continued row- 
ing, as if nothing had occurred. 

“ Be at ease, Ghita,” said Carlo ; “ it is not yet the time, and 
we have twenty good minutes for our aves.” 

Ghita, however, was far from being at ease. She felt all the 
risks that the vounof man now ran, and she felt that it was 
on her account solely that he incurred them. Even the solemn 
feeling of the hour, and the occasion, was disturbed by his pre- 
sence ; and she wished he were away, on more accounts than 
one. Here he was, nevertheless, and in the midst of enemies ; 
and it would not have been in nature, for one of her tender years 
and sex, and, most of all, of her feelings, not to indulge in a 
sentiment of tender gratitude towards him, who had, as it were, 
thrust his head into the very lion’s mouth, to do her a service. 
Between Raoul and Ghita, there had been no reserves on the 
subject of parentage ; and the former understood why his mis- 
tress was here, as well as the motive that brought her. As for 
the last, she glanced timidly around her, fearful that the lugger, 
too, had been brought into the throng of ships that crowded the 
anchorage. For this, however, Raoul was much too wary, 
nothing resembling his little craft being visible. 

The reader ill have understood that many vessels of war, 
English, Russian, Turkish, and Neapolitan, were now anchored 


WIN6“AND‘\VING. 


237 


in the bay. As the French still held the castle of St. Elmo, or 
the citadel that crowns the heights, that, in their turn, crown 
the town, the shipping did not lie quite as close to the mole as 
usual, lest a shot from the enemy above might do them injury ; 
but they were sufficiently near to permit all the idle and curious 
of Naples, who had the hearts and the means, to pull off and 
become spectators of the sad scene that was about to occur. As 
the hour drew near, boat after boat arrived, until the Minerva 
was surrounded with spectators, many of whom belonged even 
to the higher classes of society. 

The distance between the Neapolitan frigate and the ship of 
the English rear-admiral, was not great ; and everything that 
occurred on board the former, and which was not actually hid- 
den by the sides and bulwarks of the vessel itself, was easily to 
be seen from the decks of the latter. Still the Foudroyant lay a 
little without the circle of boats ; and in that direction Raoul had 
pulled, to avoid the throng, resting on his oars when about a 
third of a cable’s length from the British admiral’s stern. Here 
it was determined to wait for the awful signal and its fatal 
consequences. The brief interval was passed, by Ghita, in tell- 
ing her beads, while Carlo joined in the prayers with the devo- 
tion of a zealot. It is scarcely necessary to say, that all this 
Raoul witnessed without faith, though it would be doing injus- 
tice to his nature, as well as to his love for Ghita, to say he did 
so without sympathy. 

A solemn and expecting silence reigned in all the neighbor- 
ing ships. The afternoon was calm and sultry, the zephyr 
ceasing to blow earlier than common, as if unwilling to disturb 
the melancholy scene with its murmurs. On board the Minerva 
no sign of life — scarcely of death — was seen ; though a single 
whip was visible, rigged to the fore-yard arm, one end being 
led in-board, while the other ran along the yard, passed through 
a leading block, in its quarter, and descended to the deck. 
There was a platform fitted on two of the guns beneath this 
expressive but simple arrangement ; but, as it was in-board, it 
was necessarily concealed from all but those who were on the 


238 


WING-AND-WING. 


Minerva’s decks. With these preparations Raoul was familiar, 
and his understanding eye saw the particular rope that was so 
soon to deprive Ghita of her grandfather ; though it was lost 
to her and her uncle among the maze of rigging by which it 


was surrounded. 

There might have been ten minutes passed in this solemn 
stillness, during which the crowd of boats continued to collect ; 
and the crews of the different ships were permitted to take such 
positions as enabled them to become spectators of a scene that it 
was hoped might prove admonitory. It is part of the etiquette 
of a vessel of war to make her people keep close ; it being 
deemed one sign of a well ordered ship to let as few men be 
seen as possible, except on those occasions when duty requires 
them to show themselves. This rigid rule, however, was 
momentarily lost sight of, and the teeming masses that floated 
around La Minerva gave up their thousands like bees clustering 
about their hives. It was in the midst of such signs of expecta- 
tion that the call of the boatswain was heard piping the side on 
board the Foudroyant, and four side-boys lay over on the 
accommodation-ladder, a mark of honor never paid to one of a 
rank less than that of a captain. Raoul’s boat was within fifty 
yards of that very gangway, and he turned his head in idle 
curiosity to see who might descend into the gig that was lying 
at the foot of the long flight of steps. An officer with one 
epaulette came first, showing the way to two civilians, and a 
captain followed. All descended in a line, and entered the 
boat. The next instant the oars fell, and the gig whirled 
round under the Foudroyant’s stern, and came glancing up 
towards his own skiff. Four or five of the strong man-of-war jerks 
sufficed to send the long, narrow boat as far as was desired, when 

^ •V 


the men ceased rowing, their little craft losing her way within ten 
feet of the skiff occupied* by our party. Then it wasThafc Ramil, 
to his surprise, discovered that the two civilians were no other 
than Andrea Barrofaldi and Vito Viti, who had accompanied 
Cufie and Griffin, their companions in the gig, on a cruise, of 
which express object was to capture himself and his vessel. 


WIN6-AND-WING. 


239 


Another man wonlcl have been alarmed at finding himself in 
such close vicinity to his enemies; but Raoul Yvard was 
amused, rather than rendered uneasy, by the circumstance. 
He had faith in his disguise ; and he was much too familiar 
with incidents of this sort not to retain his self-command and 
composure. Of course he knew nothing of the persons of the 
two Englishmen ; but perfectly aware of the presence of the 
Proserpine, he guessed at their identity, and very correctly 
imagined the circumstances that brought companions so ill- 
assorted together. He had taken no precautions to disguise 
his face ; and the red Phrygian cap which he wore, in common 
with thousands on that bay, left every feature and lineament 
fully expressed. With Ghita, however, the case was different. 
She was far better known to the two Elbans, as indeed was the 
person of her uncle, than he was himself ; but both had veiled 
their faces in prayer. 

“ I do not half like this business, Griffin,” observed the 
captain, as his gig entirely lost its way ; “ and wish, with all 
my heart, we had nothing to do with it. I knew this old 
Caraccioli, and a very good sort of man he w r as ; and as to 
treason, it is not easy to say who is and who is not a traitor in 
times like these, in such a nation as this. Ha ! I believe my 
soul, this is the same old man, and the same pretty girl, that 
came to see Nelson half an hour ago about this very exe- 
cution ?” 

“ What could they have to do with Prince Caracciolf, or his 
treason, sir ? The old chap looks bookish ; but he is not a 
priest ; and, as to the girl, she is trim-built enough ; I fancy the 
face is no great matter, however, or she would not take so much 
pains to hide it.” 

Raoul muttered a “ sacr-r-re,” between his teeth, but he suc- 
ceeded in suppressing all outward expression of feeling. Cuffe, 
on the contrary, saw no other motive for unusual discretion, 
beyond the presence of his boat’s crew, before whom, however, 
he was accustomed to less reserve than with his people in 
general. 


240 


WING-AND-WING. 


“If she be the same as the one we had in the cabin,” he 
answered, “there is no necessity for a veil; for a prettier or 
a more modest-looking girl is not often fallen in with. What 
she wanted exactly, is more than I can tell you, as she spoke 
Italian altogether ; and 4 miladi’ had the interview pretty much 
to herself. But her good looks seem to have taken with this 
old bachelor, the justice of the peace, who eyes her as if he had 
an inclination to open his mind to the beauty. Ask him 
in Italian, Griffin, what mare’s nest he has run foul of now.” 

44 You seem to have found something to look at besides 
the Minerva, Signor Podesta,’’ observed Griffin, in an undertone.. 
44 I hope it is not Venus.” 

44 Cospetto !” grunted Vito Viti, nudging his neighbor, the 
vice-governatore, and nodding towards the other boat ; 44 if that 
be not little Ghita, who came into our island like a comet, and 
went out of it — to what shall I liken her sudden and extraordi- 
nary disappearance, Signor Andrea ? — ” 

44 To that of le Feu-Follet, or ze Ving-y-Ving,” put in Griffin, 
who, now he had got the two functionaries fairly afloat, spared 
none of the jokes that come so easy and natural to a man- 
of-war’s man. 44 She went out, too, in an 4 extraordinary disap- 
pearance,’ and perhaps the lady and the lugger went out toge- 
ther.” 

Vito Viti muttered an answer ; for by this time he had dis- 
covered that he was a very different personage on board 
the Proserpine, from what the other had appeared to consider 
him while in his native island. He might have expressed him- 
self aloud, indeed ; but, at that instant, a column of smoke glanced 
out of the bow port of the Minerva — a yellow flag was shown 
aloft — and then came the report of the signal gun. 

It has been said that vessels of war of four different nations 
were at that time lying in the Bay of Naples. Nelson had come 
in but a short time previously, with seventeen ships of the line ; 
and he found several more of his countrvmen lying there. This 
large force had been assembled to repel an expected attack on 
the island of Minorca ; and it -was still kept together in an uncer- 


WING-AND-WING. 


241 


tainty of the future movements of the enemy. A Russian force 
had come out of the Black Sea, to act against the French, bring- 
ing with it a squadron of the Grand Signor ; thus presenting to 
the world the singular spectacle of the followers of Luther, devo- 
tees of the Greek church, and disciples of Mahomet, uniting 
in defence of “ our rights, our firesides, and our altars !” To 
these vessels must be added a small squadron of ships of the 
country ; making a mixed force of four different ensigns, that 
was to witness the melancholy scene we are about to relate. 

The yellow flag and the signal gun brought everything in the 
shape of duty to a stand-still in all the fleets. The hoarse com- 
mands ceased — the boatswains and their mates laid aside their 
calls, and the echoing midshipmen no longer found orders 
to repeat. The seamen gathered to the sides of their respective 
vessels — every part glistened with expectant eyes — the booms 
resembled clusters of bees suspended from the boughs of a 
forest ; and the knight-heads, taffrails, gangways, and stretchers 
of the rigging, were garnished with those whose bright buttons, 
glazed hats, epaulets, and dark-blue dresses, denoted to belong 
to the privileged classes of a ship. Notwiths tan ding all this 
curiosity, nothing like the feeling which is apt to be manifested 
at an exhibition of merited punishment, was visible in a single 
countenance. An expression resembling a sombre gloom 
appeared to have settled on all those grim warriors of the deep ; 
English, Russian, Neapolitan, or Turk, apparently reserving all 
his sympathies for the sufferer, rather than for the majesty 
of justice. Still, no murmur arose — no sign of resistance was 
made — no look of remonstrance given. The unseen mantle of 
authority covered all ; and these masses of discontented men 
submitted, as we bow to what is believed to be the fiat of fate. 
The deep-seated and unresisting habit of discipline suppressed 
complaint; but there was a general conviction that some act 
was about to be committed, that it were better for humanity 
and justice should not be done ; or, if done at all, that it needed 
more of form, greater deliberation, and a fairer trial, to be 
so done as to obtain the commendation of men. The Turks 

11 


242 


WING-AND-WING. 


♦ 


alone showed apathy ; though all showed submission. These 
subjects of destiny looked on coldly, though even among them a 
low rumor had passed that a malign influence prevailed in the 
fleet ; and that a great and proud spirit had got to be mastered 
by the passion that so often deprives heroes of their self-command 
and independence. 

Ghita ceased her prayers, as the report of the gun broke 
rudely on her ears, and with streaming eyes, she even dared to 
look towards the frigate. Raoul, and all the rest, bent their 
gaze in the same direction. The sailors, among them, saw the 
rope at the fore-yard-arm move, and then heads rose slowly 
above the hammock-cloths ; when the prisoner and his attendant 
priest were visible even to their feet. The unfortunate Carac- 
cioli, as has been said, had nearly numbered his threescore and 
ten years, in the regular course of nature ; and his bare head 
now showed the traces of time: He wore no coat ; and his arms 

were bound behind his back, at the elbows, leaving just motion 
enough to the hands to aid him in the slighter offices about his 
own person. His neck was bare, and the fatal cord was tight- 
ened sufficiently around it, to prevent accidents, constantly 
admonishing its victim of its revolting office. 

A low murmur arose among the people in the boats, as this 
spectacle presented itself to their eyes ; and many bowed their 
faces in prayer. The condemned man caught a ray of conso- 
lation from this expression of sympathy ; and he looked around 
him, an instant, with something like a return of those feelings 
of the world, which it had been his effort and his desire totally 
to eradicate, since he had taken leave of Ghita, and learned that 
his last request — that of changing his mode of punishment — 
had been denied. That was a fearful moment for one like Hon 
Francesco Caraccioli, who had passed a long life in the midst of 
the scene that surrounded him — illustrious by birth, affluent, 
honored for his services, and accustomed to respect and deference. 
Never had the glorious panorama of the bay appeared more 
lovely than it did at that instant, when he was about to quit it 
for ever, by a violent and disgraceful death. From the purple 


WING-AND-WING. 


243 


mountains — the cerulean void above him — the blue waters over 
which he seemed already to be suspended — and the basking 
shores, rich in their towns, villas, and vines, his eye turned towards 
the world of ships, each alive with its masses of living men. 
A glance of melancholy reproach was cast upon the little flag 
that was just waving at the mizen-mast-head of the Foudroyant ; 
and then it fell on the carpet of faces beneath, that seemed fairly 
to change the surface of the smooth sea into an arena of human 
countenances. His look was steady, though his soul was in a 
tumult. Ghita was recognised by her companion, and by her 
dress. He moved towards the edge of his narrow scaffolding, 
endeavored to stretch forth his arms, and blessed her, again, 
aloud. The poor girl dropped on her knees, in the bottom of 
the boat, bowed her head, and in that humble attitude did she 
remain until all was over ; not daring once to look upwards 
again. 

“ Son,” said the priest, “ this is a moment when the earth, 
and its feelings, must be forgotten.” 

“ I know it, father,” answered the old man, his voice trembling 
with emotion, for his sensations were too powerful, too sublime, 
even, for the degrading passion of fear — “ but never before did 
this fair piece of the creation seem so lovely in my eyes, as now, 
when I am about to quit it for the last time.” 

“ Look beyond this scene, into the long vista of eternity, son ; 
there thou wilt behold that, which mocks at all human, all 
earthly means. I fear that our time is but short — hast thou 
aught yet to say, in the flesh ?” 

“ Let it be known, holy priest, that in my dying moment I 
prayed for Nelson, and for all who have been active in bringing 
me to this end. It is easy for the fortunate, and the untempted, 
to condemn ; but he is wiser, as he is safer, who puts more 
reliance on the goodness of God than on his own merits.” 

A ray of satisfaction gleamed athwart the pale countenance 
of the priest — a sincerely pious man, or fear of personal conse- 
quences might have kept him aloof from such a scene — and he 
closed his eyes, while he expressed his gratitude to God, in the 


244 


WING-AND-WIN G. 


secret recesses of his own spirit. Then he turned to the prince, 
and spoke cheeringly. 

“ Son,” he said, “ if thou quittest life with a due dependence 
on the Son of God, and in this temper towards thy fellow- 
creatures, of all this living throng, thou art he who is most to 
be envied ! Address thy soul in prayer once more to Him 
who thou feelest can alone serve thee.” 

Caraccioli, aided by the priest, knelt on the scaffold ; for the 
rope hung loose enough to permit that act of humiliation, and 
the other bent at his side. 

“I wish to God Nelson had nothing to do with this!” 
muttered Cuffe, as he turned away his face, inadvertently 
bending his eyes on the Foudroyant, nearly under the stern of 
which ship his gig lay. There, in the stern-walk, stood the 
lady, already mentioned in this chapter, a keen spectator of the 
awful scene. No one hut a maid was near her, however ; the 
men of her companionship not being of moods stern enough to 
be at her side. Cuffe turned away from this sight, in still 
stronger disgust ; and just at that moment a common cry arose 
from the boats. Looking round, he was just in time to see the 
unfortunate Caraccioli dragged from his knees by the neck, 
until he rose, by a steady man-of-war pull, to the end of the 
yard ; leaving his companion alone on the scaffold, lost in 
prayer. There was a horrible minute, of the struggles between 
life and death, when the body, so late the tenement of an 
immortal spirit, hung, like one of the jewel-blocks of the ship, 
dangling passively at the end of the spar, as insensible as the 
wood which sustained it. 


i 

i 


* 




WIN G-AND-WING. 


245 


CHAPTER XY. 

“ Sleep, sleep, thou sad one, on the sea ! 

The wash of waters lulls thee now ; 

His arm no more will pillow thee, 

. Thy hand upon his brow, 

He is not near, to hurt thee, or to save : 

The ground is his — the sea must be thy grave.” 

Dana. 

A long summer’s evening did the body of Francesco 
Caraccioli hang suspended at the yard-arm of the Minerva ; a 
revolting spectacle to his countrymen, and to most of the 
strangers who had been the witnesses of his end. Then was it 
lowered into a boat, its feet loaded with a double-headed shot, 
and it was carried out a league or more into the bay, and cast 
into the sea. The revolting manner in which it rose to the 
surface and confronted its destroyers, a fortnight later, has 
passed into history ; and, to this day, forms one of the marvels 
related by the ignorant and wonder-loving of that region.* As 
for Ghita, she disappeared, no one knew how ; Vito Viti and 
his companions being too much absorbed with the scene to note 
the tender and considerate manner in which Raoul rowed her 
off from a spectacle that could but be replete with horrors, to 
one so situated. Cuffe, himself, stood but a few minutes 


* Singular as was this occurrence, and painful as it must have proved to the 
parties to the execution, it is one of the simplest consequences of natural causes. 
All animal matter swells in water previously to turning corrupt. A body that has 
become of twice its natural size, in this manner, as a matter of course, displaces 
twice the usual quantity of water : the weight of the mass remaining the same. 
Most human frames floating, in their nutural state, so long as the lungs are inflated 
with air, it follows that one in this condition would bring up with it as much 
weight in iron, as made the difference between its own gravity and that of the 
water it displaced. The upright attitude of Caraccioli was owing to the shot 
attached to the feet ; of which, it is also probable, one or two had become loosened. 


246 


WIN G-AND-WING. 


longer ; but be directed bis boat’s crew to pull alongside of tbe 
Proserpine. In lialf-an-hour after tbe execution took place, tbis 
frigate was aweigb ; and then she was seen standing out of tbe 
bay, before a light air, covered with canvas from her truck to 
her hammock-cloths. Leaving her for the moment, we will 
return to the party in the skiff. 

Neither Carlo Giuntotardi nor Ghita Caraccioli — for so we 
must continue to call the girl, albeit the name is much too 
illustrious to be borne by one of her humble condition in life — 
but, neither of these two had any other design, in thus seeking 
out the unfortunate admiral, than to perform what each believed 
to be a duty. As soon as the fate of Caraccioli was decided, 
both were willing to return to their old position in life ; not that 
they felt ashamed to avow their connexion with the dead, but 
because they were quite devoid of any of that worldly ambition, 
w r hich renders rank and fortune necessary to happiness. 

When he left the crowd of boats, Raoul pulled towards the 
rocks which bound the shores of the bay, near the gardens of 
Portici. This was a point sufficiently removed from the com- 
mon anchorage to be safe from observation ; and yet so near 
as to be reached in considerably less than an hour. As the 
light boat proceeded, Ghita gradually regained her composure. 
She dried her eyes, and looked around her inquiringly, as 
if wondering whither their companion was taking them. 

“ I will not ask you, Raoul, why you are here, at a moment 
like this, and whence you have come,” she said ; “ but I may 
ask whither you are now carrying us ? Our home is at St. 
Agata, on the heights above Sorrento, and on the other side of 
the bay. We come there, annually, to pass a month with my 
mother’s sister, who asks this much of our love.” 

“ If I did not know all this, Ghita, I would not, and could 
not be here. I have visited the cottage of your aunt this day ; 
followed you to Naples, heard of the admiral’s trial and sen- 
tence, understood how it would affect your feelings, traced you 
on board the English admiral’s ship, and was in waiting as you 
found me ; having first contrived to send away the man who 


WING-AND-WING. 


247 


took you off. All this has come about as naturally as the feel- 
ing which has induced me to venture again into the lion’s 
mouth.” 

“ The pitcher that goes often to the well, Raoul, gets broken at 
last,” said Ghita, a little reproachfully, though it surpassed her 
power to prevent the tones of tenderness from mingling with 
her words. 

“ You know all, Ghita. After months of perseverance, and a 
love such as man seldom felt before, you deliberately and coldly 
refused to be my wife ; — nay, you have deserted Monte Argen- 
taro, purposely to get rid of my importunities ; for there I 
could go with the lugger, at any moment ; and have come here, 
upon this bay, crowded with the English and other enemies of 
France, fancying that I would not dare to venture hither. 
Well, you see with what success ; for neither Nelson nor his 
two-deckers can keep Raoul Yvard from the woman he loves, 
let him be as victorious and skilful as he may !” 

The sailor had ceased rowing, to give vent to his feelings in 
this speech, neither of the two colloquists regarding the presence 
of Giuntotardi any more than if he had been a part of them- 
selves. This indifference to the fact that a third person was a 
listener, proceeded from habit, the worthy scholar and religion- 
ist being usually too abstracted to attend to concerns as light as 
love and the youthful affections. Ghita was not surprised 
either at the reproaches of her suitor or at his perseverance ; 
and her conscience told her he uttered but the truth, in 
attributing to her the motives he had, in urging her uncle to 
make their recent change of residence ; for, while a sense of 
duty had induced her to quit the towers, her art was not suffi- 
cient to suggest the expediency of going to any other abode 
than that which she was accustomed to inhabit periodically, and 
about which Raoul knew, from her own innocent narrations, 
nearly as much as she knew herself. 

“I can say no more than I have said already,” the thought- 
ful girl answered, after Raoul had begun again to row. “ It is 
better, on every account, that we should part. I cannot change 


248 


W I K G - A K D - W I N G . 


my country ; nor can you desert that glorious republic, of which 
you feel so proud. I am an Italian, and you are French ; while, 
more than all, 1 worship my God, while you believe in the new 
opinions of your own nation. Here are causes enough for sepa- 
ration, surely, however favorably and kindly we may happen to 
think of each other in general.’’ 

“ Tell me not any more of the heart of an Italian girl, and 
of her readiness to fly to the world’s end with the man of her 
choice !” exclaimed Raoul, bitterly. “ I can find a thousand 
girls in Languedoc, who would make the circuit of the earth 
yearly, rather than be separated a day from the seamen they 
have chosen for their husbands.” 

“ Then look among the girls of Languedoc for a wife,’’ 
answered Ghita, with a smile so melancholy that it contradicted 
her words. “ Better to take one of your own nation and opi- 
nions, Raoul, than risk your happiness with a stranger, who 
might not answer all your hopes, when you came to know her 
better.” 

“ We will not talk further of this, now, dearest Ghita ; my first 
care must be to carry you back to the cottage of your aunt — 
unless indeed you will at once embark in le Feu-Follet, and 
return to the towers ?” 

“ Le Feu-Follet ! — she is hardly here, in the midst of a fleet 
of her enemies ! — Remember, Raoul, your men will begin to 
complain, if you place them too often in such risks to gratify 
your own wishes.” 

“ Peste ! — I keep them in good humor by rich prizes. 
They have been successful ; and that which makes yonder Nel- 
son popular, and a great man, makes Raoul Yvard popular, 
and a great man, also, in his little way. My crew is like its 
captain — it loves adventures and it loves success.” 

“ I do not see the lugger — among a hundred ships, there is 
no sign of yours ?” 

u The Bay of Napoli is large, Ghita,” returned Raoul, 
laughing ; “ and le Feu-Follet takes but little room. See — 
yonder vaisseaux-de-ligne appear trifling among these noble 


WING-AND-WIN6. 


249 


mountains, and on this wide gulf ; you cannot expect my little 
lugger to make much show. We are small, Ghita mia, if not 
insignificant !” 

“ Still, where there are so many vigilant eyes, there is always 
danger, Raoul ! Besides, a lugger is an unusual rig, as you 
have owned to me yourself.” 

“ Not here, among all these eastern craft. I have always 
found, if I wished to be unnoticed, it was best to get into a 
crowd ; whereas, he who lives in a village, lives in open day- 
light. But* we will talk of these things when alone, Ghita — 
yonder fisherman is getting ready to receive us.” 

By this time the skiff was near the shore, where a little yawl 
was anchored, containing a solitary fisherman. This man was 
examining them as they approached ; and, recognising Raoul, 
he was gathering in his lines, and preparing to raise his grapnel. 
In a few minutes the two craft lay side by side ; and then, 
though not without difficulty, owing to a very elaborate disguise, 
Ghita recognised Ithuel Bolt. A very few words sufficed to let the 
American into all that it was necessarv he should know, when the 
whole party made its arrangements to depart. The skiff which 
Raoul, having found it lying on the beach, had made free with 
without leave, he anchored, in the full expectation that its right 
owner might find it some day or other ; while its cargo was 
transferred to the yawl, which was one of the lugger’s own 
attendants. The latter was a light, swift pulling little boat, 
admirably constructed, and fit to live in a sea-way ; requiring 
moreover but two good oars, one of which Raoul undertook to 
pull himself, while Ithuel managed the other. In five minutes 
after the junction was made the party was moving again from 
the land, in a straight line across the bay, steering in the direc- 
tion of its southern cape, and proceeding with the steady, swift 
movement of men accustomed to the toil. 

There are few portions of the sea in which a single ship or 
boat is an object of so little notice as the Bay of Naples. This 
is true of all times and seasons ; the magnificent scale on which 
nature has created her panorama, rendering ordinary objects of 

11 * 


250 


WING-AND-WING. 


comparative insignificance ; while the constant movement, the 
fruit of a million of souls thronging around its teeming shores, 
covers it in all directions with boats, almost as the streets of a 
town are crowded with pedestrians. The present occasion, too, 
was one likely to set everything in motion ; and Raoul judged 
rightly when he thought himself less likely to be observed in 
such a scene, than on a smaller and less frequented water. As 
a matter of course, while near the mole, or the common anchor- 
age, it was necessary to pass amid a floating throng ; but, once 
beyond the limits of this crowd, the size of the bay rendered it 
quite easy to avoid unpleasant collisions, without any apparent 
effort ; while the passage of a boat, in any direction, was an 
occurrence too common to awaken distrust. One would think 
no more of questioning a craft that was encountered, even in 
the centre of that spacious bay, than he would think of 
inquiring about the stranger met in the market-place. All this 
both Raoul and Ithuel knew and felt ; and once in motion, in 
their yawl, they experienced a sense of security, that, for the 
four or five previous hours, had not always existed. 

By this time, the sun was low, though it was possible, as 
Raoul perceived, to detect the speck that was still swinging at 
the Minerva’s fore-yard-arm ; a circumstance to which the 
young man, with considerate feeling, refrained from adverting. 
The Proserpine had been some time in motion, standing out of 
the fleet under a cloud of canvas, but with an air so light as to 
permit the yawl to gain on her, though the heads of both were 
turned in the same direction. In this manner, mile after mile 
was passed, until darkness came. Then the moon arose, render- 
ing the bay less distinct, it is true, but scarcely more mysterious 
or more lovely, than in the hours of stronger light. The gulf, 
indeed, forms an exception in this particular to the general rule, 
by the extent of its shores, the elevation of its mountains, the 
beauty of its water — which has the deep tint of the ocean off 
soundings — and the softness of the atmosphere ; lending to it, 
by day, all the mellowed and dreamy charms that other scenes 
borrow from the illusions of night, and the milder brilliance of 


WING-AND-WING. 


251 


the secondary planets. Raoul did not exert himself at the oar ; 
and, as he sat aft, his companion was obliged to take the stroke 
from his movement. It was so pleasant to have Ghita with him, 
on his own element, that he never hurried himself while in the 
enjoyment of her society. The conversation, it will readily be 
imagined, was not lively ; but the saddened melancholy of 
Ghita’s voice, as she occasionally hazarded a remark of her own, 
or answered one of his questions, sounded sweeter, in his ears, 
than the music of the ship’s bands that was now wafted to them 
across the water. 

As the evening advanced, the land-breeze increased, and the 
Proserpine gradually gained upon the boat. When the latter 
was about two thirds of the distance across the bay, the frigate 
caught the stronger current that came down athwart the cam- 
pagna, between Vesuvius and the mountains behind Castel a 
Mare, when she drove ahead fast. Her sails, as seamen express 
it, were all asleep ; or swelled outward, without collapsing ; and 
her rate of sailing was between five and six miles in the hour. 
This brought them up with the boat, hand-over-hand, as it is 
called ; and Ghita, at Raoul’s request, put the helm aside, in 
order that they might get out of the way of the huge body that 
was approaching. It would seem that there was some design, 
on the part of the ship, in coming so near, for she made a sheer 
towards the yawl, in a way to frighten the timid helmswoman, 
and to induce her to relinquish her hold of the tiller. 

u Fear nothing,” called out Griffin, in Italian — “ we intend to 
offer you a tow. Stand by, and catch the line — Heave !” 

A small rope was thrown ; and, falling directly across Ithuel’s 
head, that person could do no less than seize it. With all Ins 
detestation of the English in general, and of this vessel in par- 
ticular, the man-of-all-work had the labor-saving propensity of 
his countrymen ; and it struck him as a good thing to make a 
“ king’s ship ” aid an enemy’s privateer, by accepting the offer. 
As he used the line with proper dexterity, the yawl was soon 
towing on the quarter of the frigate ; Raoul taking the helm, 
and giving the boat the sheer necessary to prevent her dragging 


262 


WING-AND-WING. 


in alongside. This was a change so sudden, and so totally 
unexpected, that Gliita murmured her disapprobation, lest it 
should lead to a discovery of the true character of her companions. 

“ Fear nothing, dearest,” answered Raoul, “ they cannot 
suspect us ; and we may learn something useful by being here. 
At all events, le Feu-Follet is safe from their designs, just at 
this moment.” 

“ Are you boatmen of Capri ?” called out Griffin, who stood 
on the taffrail of the ship, with Cuffe and the two Italians near 
by ; the first dictating the questions his lieutenant put. 

u S’nore, si,” answered Raoul, adopting the patois of the 
country, as well as he could, and disguising his deep mellow 
voice, by speaking on a high shrill key. “ Boatmen of Capri, 
that have been to Napoli with wine, and have been kept out 
later than we intended by the spectacle at the yard-arm of the 
Minerva. Cospetto ! them signori make no more of a prince, 
than we do of a quail, in the season, on our little island. Par- 
don me, dearest Ghita ; but we must throw dust into their eyes.” 
“ Has any strange sail been seen about your island within the 
last twenty-four hours ?” 

“ The bay is full of strange sail, S’nore ; even the Turks 
coming to see us, since the last trouble with the French.” 

“Aye — but the Turks are now your allies, like us English. 
Have you seen any other strangers ?” 

“ They tell me, there are ships from the far north, too, S’nore, 
off the town. Russians, I believe, they call them.” 

“ They, too, are allies ; but I mean enemies. Has there not 
been a lugger seen off your island, within the last day or two — 
a lugger of the French?” 

“ Si — si — I know what you mean, now, S’nore ; there has 
been a vessel like that you mention, off the island ; for I saw 
her with my own eyes — si — si. It was about the twenty-third 
hour, last evening — a lugger, and we all said she must be 
French, by her wicked looks.” 

“Raoul!” said Ghita, as if reproaching him for an 
indiscretion. 


WTN 6-AND-WIN 6. 


253 


“This is the true way to befog them,” answered the young 
man ; “ they have certainly heard of us ; and by seeming to tell 
a little truth frankly, it will give me an opportunity of telling 
more untruth.” 

“ Ah, Raoul, it is a sad life that renders untruths necessary !” 
“ It is the art of war, dearest ; without it, we should soon be 
outwitted by these knaves of English. Si — si, S’nori ; we all 
said just that, concerning her looks and rig.” 

“ Will you sheer your boat alongside, friend,” inquired 
Griffin, “ and come on board of us ? We have a ducat here, 
that wants an owner ; I fancy it will fit your pocket as well as 
another’s. We will haul you ahead, abreast of the gangway.” 

“ Oh ! Raoul, do not think of this rash act,” whispered Ghita; 
“ the vice-governatore, or the podesta, will recollect you ; and 
then all will be lost !” 

“ Fear nothing, Ghita — a good cause and a keen wit will 
carry me through ; while the least hesitation might, indeed, 
ruin us. These English first ask, and then take, without asking, 
if you tell them no. Corpo di Bacco ! who ever heard, either, 
of a lazzarone’s refusing a ducat !” 

Raoul then whispered a few words to Ithuel, when, the boat 
being by this time far enough ahead, he gave it a sheer 
alongside of the ship, seized a man-rope, and went up the cleets 
as actively as a cat. It is certain, not a soul on board that fine 
frigate had the least suspicion of the true character of the 
individual who now confidently trod her quarter-deck. The 
young man, himself, loved the excitement of such an adventure, 
and he felt the greater confidence in his impunity, from the 
circumstance that there was no other light than that of the 
moon. The sails, too, cast their shadows upon deck ; and then, 
neither of the two Italians was a wizard at detecting impostors, 
as he knew by experience. 

The watch was set for the night, and Winchester, who had 
returned to duty, held the trumpet, while Griffin had no other 
immediate office but to interpret. Two or three midshipmen 
were lounging about the quarter-deck ; here and there a 


254 


WING-AND-WING. 


seaman was on the look-out, at the halyards, or on a cat-head ; 
some twenty or thirty old sea-dogs were pacing the gangways 
or the forecastle, with their arms crossed, and hands stuck in 
their jackets ; and a quick-eyed, active quarter-master stood 
near the man at the wheel, conning the ship. The remainder 
of the watch had stowed themselves between the guns, or among 
the booms, in readiness to act, but in truth dozing. Cuffe, 
Griffin, and the two Italians, descended from the taffrail, and 
awaited the approach of the supposed lazzarone, or boatman of 
Capri, as he was now believed to be, near the stern of the 
vessel. By an arrangement among themselves, Vito Viti 
became the spokesman ; Griffin translating to the captain all 
that passed in an under-tone as soon as it was uttered. 

“ Come hither, friend,” commenced the podesta, in a 
patronizing, but somewhat lofty manner ; “ this generous and 
noble English captain, Sir Kooffe, desires me to present you 
with a ducat, by way of showing that he asks no more of you 
than he is willing to pay for. A ducat* is a great deal of 
money, as you know ; and good pay merits good services.” 

“ S’nore, si ; your eccellenza says the truth ; a good ducat 
certainly deserves good services.” 

“ Bene. Now, tell these signori all you know about that said 
lugger ; where you saw her ; when you saw her ; and what she 
was about. Keep your mind clear, and tell us one thing at a 
time.” 

“ S’nore, si. I will keep my mind clear, and tell you no 
more than one thing at a time. I believe, eccellenza, I am to 
begin with where I saw her ; then I’m to tell you ivhen I saw 
her ; after which, you wish to know what she was about. I 
believe this is the way you put it, S’nore ?” 

“ Excellently well ; answer in that order, and you will make 
yourself understood. But first, tell me, — do all the natives of 
Capri speak the same sort of Italian as you do yourself, friend ?” 

* The silver ducat of Naples is worth 80 grani, or rather less than 80 cents : the 
golden ducat, or sequin, of Italy, Holland, Turkey, &c., is worth a trifle more than 
two American dollars. Raoul was ollered the former. 


WING-AND-WING. 


255 


“ S’nore, si — though my mother having been a French 
woman, they tell me that I have caught a little from her. We 
all get something from our mothers, eccellenza ; and it’s a pity 
we could not keep more of it.’’ 

“ True, friend ; hut now for the lugger. Remember that 
honorable signori will hear what you say ; therefore, for your 
own credit, speak to the point ; and speak nothing but truth, 
for the love of God.” 

“ Then, S’nore, first, as to where I saw her — does your eccel- 
lenza mean where I was at the time, or where the lugger was ?” 

“ Where the lugger was, fellow. Dost think Sir Kooffe cares 
where thou spent thy day !” 

u Well, then, eccellenza, the lugger was near the Island of 
Capri, on the side next the Mediterranean, which, you know, 
S’nore, is on the side opposite to the bay, and near, as might 
be, abreast of the house of Giacomo Alberti — does your eccel- 
lenza know anything of the house I mean ?” 

“ Not I ; but tell your story as if I knew all about it. It is 
these particulars which give value to a tale. How far from the 
nearest land ? Mention that fact, by all means, if you happen 
to remember.” 

“ Well, eccellenza, could the distance be measured, now I 
think it would prove to be about as far — not quite, S’nore, but, 
I say, about — about as far as from the said Giacomo’s largest 
fig-tree, to the vines of Giovanni, his wife’s cousin. Si — I think, 
just about that distance.” 

“ And how far may that be, friend ? Be precise, as much 
may depend on your answers.” 

“ S’nore, that may be a trifle further than it is from the 
church to the top of the stairs that lead to Ana Capri.” 

“ Cospetto ! — Thou wilt earn thy ducat speedily, at this rate I 
Tell us, at once, in miles ; was the lugger one, two, six, or 
twenty miles from your island at the time thou speak’st of ?” 

“ Eccellenza, you bid me speak of the time , in the second 
place ; after I had told you of the where, in the first place. I 
wish to do whatever will give you pleasure, S’nore.” 


256 


WING-AND-WING. 


“ Neighbor Vito Viti,” put in the vice-governatore, “ it may 
be well to remember that this matter is not to be recorded as 
you would put on file the confessions of a thief ; it may be 
better to let the honest boatman tell his story in his own way.” 

“ Aye, now the veechy has set to work, I hope we shall get 
the worth of our ducat,” observed Cuffe, in English. 

“ S’nori,” rejoined Raoul, “ it shall be just as your eccellenzi 
say. The lugger you speak of was off the island last evening, 
steering towards Ischia ; which place she must have reached in 
the course of the night, as there was a good land-wind from 
the twenty-third to the fifth hour.” 

“ This agrees with our account as to the time and place,” 
said Griffin ; “ but not at all as to the direction the corsair was 
steering. We hear she was rather rounding the southern cape 
for the Gulf of Salerno.” 

Raoul started, and gave thanks, mentally, that he had come 
on board, as this statement showed that his enemies had 
received only too accurate information of his recent movements. 
He had hopes, however, of being able yet to change their inten- 
tions, and of putting them on a wrong scent. 

“ S’nori,” he said, “ I should like to know who it is that 
mistakes south-east for north-west. None of our pilots or 
boatmen, I should think, could ever make so great a 
blunder. S’nore, you are an officer, and understand such 
things ; and I will just ask you, if Ischia does not lie north- 
west of Capri ?” 

“ Of that fact there can be no manner of doubt,” returned 
Griffin ; “ it is equally true that the Gulf of Salerno lies south- 
east of both — ” 

“ There, now !” interrupted Raoul, with a well-acted assump- 
tion of vulgar triumph ; “ I knew your eccellenza, when you 
came to look into it, would see the folly of saying that a vessel, 
which was standing from Capri towards Ischia, was going on 
any other 00111*86 than north-west !” 

“But this is not the question, amico. We all understand 
the bearings of these islands, which are the bearings of the 


WING-AND-WING, 


257 


whole coast, down here -away ; but the question is, which way 
the lugger was steering ?” 

“ I thought I had said, eccellenza, that she was heading across 
towards Ischia,” answered Raoul, with an air of obtuse innocence. 

“ If you do, you give an account exactly different from that 
which has been sent to the admiral by the good bishop of your 
own island. May I never eat another of his own quails, if I 
think he would deceive us ; and it is not easy to suppose a man 
like him does not know north from south.” 

Raoul inwardly muttered a malediction on all priests ; a class 
of men which, rightly enough, he believed to be united in their 
hostility to France. But it would not do to express this, in his 
assumed character ; and he affected to listen, as one of his class 
ought to give ear to a fact that came from his spiritual father. 

“ North from south, eccellenza! Monsignore knows a great 
deal more than that, if the truth were said ; though, I suppose, 
these noble signori are acquainted with the right reverend 
father’s great infirmity ?” 

“Not we — none of us, I fancy, ever had the honor to 
be in his company. Surely, fellow, your bishop is a man of 
truth ?” 

“ Truth ! — Yes, eccellenza, so true is he that if he were to tell 
me that the thing I saw myself, had not, and could not happen, 
I should rather believe Monsignore, than believe my own eyes. 
Still, Signori, eyes are something ; and as the right reverend 
father has none , or what are as bad as none, for any use they 
can be in looking at a vessel half-a-mile off, he may not always 
see what he thinks he sees. When Monsignore tells us that so 
and so is Gospel, we all believe it, for we know the time, has 
been when he could read ; but we never think of going to his 
door to ask which way a ship is steering, having the use of our 
own senses.” 

“ Can this fellow tell us the truth, Griffin ?” asked Cuffe, a good 
deal mystified by Raoul’s artifice, and his assumed simplicity. 
“If so, we shall be going exactly on the wrong scent, by 
hauling round Campanella, and running-into the Gulf of Salerno. 


258 


WING- AND- WING. 


The French hold Gaeta yet, and it is quite likely that Master 
Yvard may wish to keep a friendly port open under his lee !” 

“ You forget, Captain Cuffe, that his lordship has sent a light 
cruiser already up that way ; and le Feu-Follet would hardly 
dare to show herself near one of our regular fellows — ” 

“ Umph ! — I don’t know that, Mr. Griffin ; I don’t exactly 
know that. The Proserpine is a ‘ regular fellow,’ after a fashion, 
at least ; and the Few-Folly has dared to show herself to her . 

Jack-o’-Lantern ! — D n me, Griffin, but I think she is well 

named now. I’d rather chase a jack-o’-lantern in the Island of 
Sicily, than be hunting after such a chap ; — first, he’s here ; 
then, he’s there ; and presently he’s nowdiere. As for the sloop, 
she’s gone south, at my suggestion, to look into the bays along 
the Calabrian coast. I told Nelson I wanted another ship ; for, 

just so certain as this Rule — Raw-owl — what the d 1 do you 

call the pirate, Griffin ?” 

“ Raoul, Captain Cuffe ; Raoul Yvard is his name. ’Tis 
thoroughly French. Raoul means Rodolph.’’ 

“ Well, I told Nelson if this lad should get to dodging round 
one of the islands, w T e might as well set about playing ‘ puss in 
the corner,’ by the week, as to think of driving him off the land, 
for a fair chase. He works his boat like a stage-coach turning 
in to an inn-yard !” 

“ I winder my lord did not think of this, and give us a sloop 
or two to help us.” 

“ Catch Nel. at that ! — He might send one Englishman to 
look after two Frenchmen ; but he’d never dream of sending 
two Englishmen to look after one Frenchman.” 

“ But this is not a fighting matter, sir ; only a chase — and 
one Frenchman will run faster than two Englishmen, any dav 
of the week.” 

“ Sa-c-r-r-r-e,” muttered Raoul, in a tone that he endeavored 
to suppress, and which was inaudible to all ears but those 
of Andrea Barrofaldi ; the vice-governatore happening to stand 
nearer his person just at that moment than any other of the 
party. 


WING-AND-WING, 


259 


“Very true,” answered Cuffe ; “but so it is. We are sent 
alone ; and if this Few-Folly get in between Ischia and Procida, 
it will be easier to unearth the fox than to drive her out single- 
handed. As for any more boat service against her, I suppose 
you’ve all had enough of that f” 

“ Why, sir, I rather think the people would be shy,” answered 
Griffin, with a little hesitation of manner, and yet with the 
directness and simplicity of a truly brave man. “ We must let 
them get over the last brush before they are depended on much 
for any new set-to of that sort.” 

“ Bon /” muttered Raoul, quite unconscious he was over- 
heard. 

“ Nevertheless, we must catch this fellow, if we wear out our 
shoes in the chase.” 

All this time Andrea Barrofaldi and Vito Viti were pro- 
foundly ignorant of what was passing between the two officers, 
though Raoul listened eagerly, and so well understood every 
syllable they uttered. Until this moment the vice-go vernatore 
had been rather indifferent and inattentive as to what occurred ; 
but the two exclamations of Raoul awakened a vague distrust 
in his mind, which, while it had no direct object, was certainly 
pregnant with serious consequences to the Frenchman himself. 
Deep mortification at the manner in which they had been duped 
by this celebrated privateersman, with a desire to absent them- 
selves from the island until the edge was a little taken off the 
ridicule they both felt they merited, blended with certain long- 
ings to redeem their characters, by assisting in capturing the 
corsair, were the reasons why these two worthies, the deputy- 
governor and the podesta, were now on board the Proserpine. 
Cuffe had offered them cots in his cabin, and seats at his table, 
in a moment of confidence ; and the offer was gladly accepted. 
Andrea had not been on board the ship a day, however, before 
he became thoroughly convinced of his utter uselessness ; a cir- 
cumstance that added materially to the awkwardness of his 
situation. Like all well-meaning and simple-minded men, he 
had a strong wish to be doing ; and day and night he ruminated 


260 


W«I NG-AND-WING. 


on the means by himself, or discussed them in private dialogues 
with his friend the podesta. Vito Viti frankly admonished him 
to put his faith in heaven, affirming that something worth 
while would yet turn up in the cruise, to render the enterprise 
memorable ; it being a habit with the magistrate to say an ave 
or two on all trying occasions, and then trust to God. 

“ You never knew a miracle, vice-governatore,” said Vito 
Viti one day, when they were discussing the matter by them- 
selves ; “ you never knew a miracle come to pass that another 
was not close on its heels ; the first being a mere preparation 
for the last, and the last always proving to be the most remark- 
able. Now, when Anina Gotti fell off the cliffs, it was a mira- 
cle she didn’t break her neck ; but, when she rolled over into the 
sea, it was a much greater she wasn’t drowned !” 

“ It is better to leave these things to the church, neighbor 
Vito,” was the vice-governatore’s answer ; “ nor do I see that 
there has been any miracle in the affair to start with.” 

“ How ! — Do you not call it a miracle, Signor Andrea, that 
two such men as you and I, should be deceived as we were 
beyond all doubt, by this knave of a French corsair ? I look 
upon it as so great a miracle, myself, that it ought to follow, 
instead of going before its companion.” 

To this Andrea made an answer suitable to his greater infor- 
mation, and the discourse took its usual direction towards the 
means of doing something to relieve the two functionaries from 
the stigma that they mutually felt now rested on their sagacity, 
and that, too, as this sagacity might be considered conjointly or 
individually. 

It was probably owing to this fever of the mind that the. 
vice-governatore, a man usually so simple and confiding, was 
now so suspicious and keen-sighted. The presence of Carlo 
Giuntotardi and Ghita had at first struck him as a little out of 
the common way ; and though he could not distinguish their 
faces by the light of the moon, and at the distance at which 
they were placed in the yawl, he fancied from the first that his 
old acquaintances were in the boat the ship was towing. Now 


WING-AND-WING. 


261 


Andrea Barrofaldi certainly had never before that day connected 
Ghita or her uncle, in any manner, with Raoul Yvard; but 
it was beyond dispute that the mysterious manner in which 
they disappeared from the island, had excited some remarks ; 
and in his present state of mind, it was not an extraordinary cir- 
cumstance that he had some distant and vague glimmerings of 
the truth. But for Raoul’s indiscreet exclamations, however, 
nothing probably would have come of these indistinct fancies ; 
and we are to refer all that followed to those unguarded out- 
breakings of the Frenchman’s humor, rather than to any very 
clear process of ratiocination on the part of the vice-gover- 
natore. 

Just as CufFe made the declaration last recorded, Andrea 
stepped up to the spot where he and Griffin were convers- 
ing apart, and whispered a few words in the ear of the latter. 

“ The d 1 !” exclaimed the lieutenant, in English. “ If 

what the vice-go vernatore tells me be true, Captain CufFe, the 
work is half done to our hands !” 

“ Aye, the veechy is a good fellow at the bottom, Griffin ; 
though he’ll never burn the bay of Naples. What has he to 
say now !” 

Griffin led his captain a little aside, and conferred a moment 
with him alone. Orders were then passed to the officer of the 
watch, when CufFe and his companion went below, like men in 
a hurry. 


262 


WING - AND-WIN G. 






CHAPTER XVI. 

“ What countryman, I pray '?” 

“ Of Mantua.’l 

“Of Mantua, Sir 7 — marry, God forbid! 

And come to Padua, careless of your life 7” 

Taming of the Shrew. 

During the momentous five minutes occupied in these pri- 
vate movements, Raoul affected to be gaping about in vulgar 
astonishment, examining the guns, rigging, ornaments of the 
quarter-deck, &c. ; though, in truth, nothing that passed among 
those near him escaped his vigilant attention. He was uneasy 
at the signs of the times, and now regretted his own temerity ; 
but still he thought his incognito must be impenetrable. Like 
most persons who fancy they speak a foreign language well, he 
was ignorant, too, in how many little things he betrayed him- 
self ; the Englishman, caeteris paribus, usually pronouncing the 
Italian better than the Frenchman, on account of the greater 
affinity between his native language and that of Italy, in what 
relates to emphasis and sounds. Such was the state of mind of 
our hero then, as he got an intimation that the captain of the 
ship wished to see him below. Raoul observed as he descended 
the ladder, to comply with what sounded very much like an 
order, that he was followed by the two Elban functionaries. 

The cabin-lamp was trimmed, and the privateersman found 
himself under a strong light, as soon as he had crossed the 
threshold of the apartment. Cuffe and Griffin were standing 
near the table, where the vice-governatore and the podesta took 
their stations also ; giving the whole arrangement a most 
uncomfortable air of investigation and justice. For an instant, 
Raoul wished that it was a portion of the Holy Inquisition, 


WING-AND- WING. 


263 


rather than the tribunal before which he now found himself so 
unexpectedly arraigned. 

“ You must be cool,” said Griffin, as the other moved slowly 
up to the table, maintaining the outward signs of steadiness, but 
cursing in his heart the severe ordeal which he felt he was 
undergoing ; “ do me the favor to put this silk handkerchief 
about your neck.” 

“ S’nore, your eccellenza is pleased to joke ; we men of 
Capri think little of the nights, at this season of the year — 
still, as it seems to be your wish, I will honor myself so 
much.” 

In that age, a black silk kerchief was the certain mark of a 
military man. The old-fashioned stock had gone out, with all 
but old-fashioned people, and the new-fashioned substitute did 
not make its appearance until many years later ; the present 
usage, indeed, having come in from an imitation of the military 
mania which pervaded Christendom at the close of the last 
general war. Black around the neck, properly relieved by the 
white of the linen, was then deemed particularly military ; and 
even in the ordinary dress, such a peculiarity was as certain a 
sign as the cockade, that the wearer bore arms. Raoul knew 
this, and he felt he was aiding in unmasking himself, by com- 
plying ; but he thought there might be greater danger should 
he refuse to assume the kerchief. 

“ Your eccellenza is making a prince of a very humble boat- 
man,” he^said, when his neck was fairly enveloped ; “ and my 
wife will think some great general is coming, when I enter the 
door.” 

“To help the delusion, friend, wear this also,” continued 
Griffin, throwing the other one of his own undress uniform 
coats, his stature and that of Raoul being very nearly the same. 

The true state of the case was now getting to be somewhat 
unequivocal ; nevertheless, as steadiness and compliance were 
his only hopes, Raoul did as desired, and stood with all his 
upper man decorated in an English naval undress uniform, 
while the nether remained a la lazzarone. 


264 


WING-AND-WING. 


“ What say you now, vice-go vernatore,” resumed Griffin, 
“ here are lights, and the dress !” 

“ I say that this gentleman has done me the honor of several 
visits in my poor residence at Porto Ferrajo,” returned Andrea ; 
“ and that never has he been more welcome than he is at this 
moment. Signor Smees, you are a great lover of masquerades, 
and make a carnival of the whole year. I trust your distin- 
guished countryman, Sir Cicero, will have it in his power to 
convince these brave Inglese that all is done in pure pleasantry 
and without a crime.” 

“ Messieurs,” said Raoul, stripping himself of his borrowed 
plumes, “ it is too late to feign any longer. If I am Raoul 
Yvard, as you say, I am certainly not le Feu-Follet.” 

u Of course, you are aware, Monsieur,” observed Griffin, in 
French, “ that you are a prisoner to His Britannic Majesty ?” 

“ Sa Majeste Britannique has not made a conquest equal to 
his success at the Nile,” returned Raoul, ironically ; u but he 
has me in his hands. It is not the first time that I have had 
the honor to be a prisoner of war, and that, too, in one of his 
own ships.” 

“ You are not to suppose that such will be your situation, 
now, Monsieur Yvard. We arrest you in a totally different 
character.” 

“Not as a friend, I trust, Monsieur ; for, I protest, I have not 
the smallest claim to the character ; as witness a short interview 
off Porto Ferrajo, and an interesting incident at the mouth of 
the Golo.” 

u Your taunts may be spared, sir ; fortune favored you then, 
we allow ; but now we arrest you as a spy.” 

“ Espion !” repeated Raoul, starting ; “ that is an office I 
never contemplated, Monsieur, on coming on board your ship. 
You will do me the justice to acknowledge that it was only at 
your own invitation that I came on deck. ’Twould be an 
infamy to pretend differently !” 

“We will endure the infamy of our acts, Monsieur Yvard. 
No one accuses you of having come on board the Proserpine as 


WING-AND-WING. 


265 


a spy ; but, when an enemy is found rowing about our fleet, 
which is anchored in a hostile bay, and this in a disguise like 
yours, it must be a very scrupulous conscience that hesitates to 
pronounce him a spy, and liable to the punishment of one.” 
This was so true, that the unfortunate young man now felt the 
exceeding delicacy of his situation. In coming into the bay, he 
had certainly been led by no other intention than to find Ghita ; 
and yet he could not but confess, to himself, that he should not 
have hesitated about profiting, in his public character, by any 
information incidentally obtained. He had subjected himself 
to the severest penalties of military law, by yielding to his 
passion for Ghita ; and he could not discover a single available 
excuse to plead in mitigation. 

“ What does the poor devil say, Griffin ?” asked Cuffe, v r ho 
felt regret that so brave an enemy should be reduced to so 
desperate a strait, notwithstanding his determined hostility to all 
Frenchmen ; “ do not bear too hard upon him, at the first go 
off. Has he any excuse for his disguise ?” 

“ The usual apology, no doubt, sir — a desire to serve his one 
and undivided republic ! If we should believe all such chaps 
tell us, Captain Cuffe, we might go home and send deputies to 
the National Convention ; if, indeed, they w T ould do us the 
favor to admit them to seats.” 

“ Gentlemen,” said Raoul, in English, u there is no longer any 
occasion for an interpreter between us ; I speak your language 
sufficiently well to make myself understood.” 

“ I am sorry for your situation, Mr. Yvard,” said Cuffe, “ and 
wish, with all my heart, you had fallen into our hands in open 
battle instead of in this irregular way.” 

“ In which case, Monsieur le Capitaine, le Feu-Follet would 
have been in your power also !” returned Raoul, smiling 
ironically ; u but, messieurs, words are idle now ; I am your 
prisoner, and must take my chance with you. There is no 
necessity, however, for causing others to suffer for my indiscre- 
tion. I shall esteem it a favor, messieurs, if you will let the 
good people in the boat alongside pull ashore, without moles-' 

12 


266 


W I N G - A N D - W I N G , 


tation. It is getting late, and we must now be nearly or 
quite abeam of tlie place where they wish to land ; which is the 
marina grande of Sorrento.” 

“ Do you wish us to understand that your companions are 
not French, Monsieur Yvard?” 

“ Oui, Monsieur le Capitaine ; there is not a Frenchman 
among them, I give you my parole d'honneur.” 

“ Of that fact it may be well to satisfy ourselves by an exami- 
nation, Captain Cuffe,” put in Griffin, drily. 

“ I have sent up to beg Mr. Winchester would get these 
people on board — ” 

“ There is a young woman in the boat who is unaccustomed 
to entering ships,” interrupted Raoul, hastily, “and I implore 
your tenderness in her behalf. Let the men come on board, if 
you think it necessary ; but the signorina can never climb this 
frigate’s sides !” 

“ We will see to that, more especially, Monsieur Yvard, as 
you appear to be so much interested in the lady’s comfort. At 
present it will be my duty to put you under a sentry’s charge ; 
and that it may be done in a way the least offensive to yourself, 
your prison, for the night at least, shall be this cabin. Mr. 
Griffin, give orders to the marine officer accordingly.” 

In a few minutes, a soldier was introduced into the forward 
cabin, and Raoul was regularly placed under his charge. Not 
till then did the officers return to the quarter-deck. All this 
time Ithuel and his companions in the yawl were left to their own 
reflections, which were anything but agreeable. Matters had 
been conducted so quietly in-board, however, that they possessed 
no clue to what had actually occurred ; though Ghita, in par- 
ticular, was full of forebodings and apprehensions. The frigate 
towed them along at a rate which, as Raoul said, had brought 
them quite abreast of their landing, and within a league of it ; 
and yet she showed no signs of an intention to abate her speed, 
nor did any one appear at the gangway to speak to them. At 
length a hoarse call was heard on deck, and the ship began to 
shorten sail. Her fore-course was hauled up, and the spanker 


WING-AND-WING. 


267 


was brailed ; then the royals were clewed up and furled ; the 
top-gallant-sails followed ; and presently the Proserpine was 
reduced to her three topsails and jib. All this, finished just as 
Cuffe reappeared on deck, was done by the watch, and in about 
five minutes. As soon as sail was thus taken in the helm was 
put to port, the ship came up to the wind on the starboard 
tack, and the main-topsail was laid to the mast, bringing the 
yawl under her lee, and close alongside of the ship. This 
manoeuvre was no sooner executed than a seaman ran lightly 
down the vessel’s side, and entered the yawl. After examining 
forward and aft he called out, “ all right, sir,” and shoved the 
boat off to a little distance from the frigate. The yard and 
stay-tackles fell, at the next instant were overhauled down, and 
hooked by the man in the boat. The boatswain’s mate, in the 
gangway, piped u haul-taut,” and the slack of the tackle was 
pulled in ; then followed a long, steady blow of the call, piping 
“sway-away,” and the boat, with all in her, rose from the 
water, and ascended as high as the hammock-cloths in the waist, 
when the stay-tackles took the strain, the yard-tackles “ eased- 
off,” and the boat was landed in the waist of the ship, as 
gingerly as if it were made of glass, and as steadily as if it had 
no more weight than a seaman’s hammock. Ghita uttered a 
faint scream when she found herself rising into the air, and 
then she hid her face, awaiting the result with dread. As for 
Carlo Giuntotardi, the movement aroused him a little from his 
customary apathy, and that was all ; whereas, Ithuel bethought 
him seriously of leaping into the water, and striking out for the 
land. He could swim a league, he thought ; but there was the 
certainty of being followed by boats, and overtaken ; a con- 
sideration that effectually curbed his impatience. It is not easy 
to describe the sensation with which this man found himself 
once more standing on the deck of his old prison, with the 
additional danger of being detected and treated as a deserter. 
It may sound revolting, at the present day, to suppose a case in 
which a foreigner was thrown by violence into the military 
service of a nation, and then was put in jeopardy of his life, 


268 


WING-AND-WING. 


because he used a privilege of nature to fly from such persecu- 
tion as soon as circumstances placed the means in his power. 
The last age, however, witnessed many scenes of similar 
wrongs ; and, it is to be feared, in despite of all the mawkish 
philanthropy and unmeaning professions of eternal peace that 
it is now the fashion to array against the experience of man- 
kind, that the next age will present their parallels, unless the 
good sense of this nation infuse into the federal legislative 
bodies juster notions of policy, more extended views of their 
own duties, and more accurate opinions of the conditions of the 
several communities of Christendom, than has marked their 
laws and reasoning for the few past months.* In a word, the 
subject of all these tribulations felt an intimate conviction that 
his rights, legal and moral, would avail him but little on the 
present occasion. Then a man never does wrong, even in 
defence of that which is inherentlv his due, without the secret 
consciousness that u evil may not be done, that good may come 
of it and Ithuel had a certain inward monitor to remind him 
that, much as he had in the way of justifiable complaint, he had 
carried the war into the enemy’s country. 

• The boat had no sooner touched the deck, than its cargo was 
handed out by the boatswain, who, keeping no watch, had not 
yet turned in ; and who was almost as important a functionary 
on board the Proserpine, as was Vito Viti in the town of Porto 
Ferrajo. He examined each individual, as he or she landed, as 
he called it ; Ghita attracting so much of his attention, as com- 
pletely to eclipse her companions. The soft air and manner of 
the girl appeared so winning, indeed, by the light of the moon, 
which now fell clear upon the decks, that all near her, including 
the officers, submitted to very much the same influence. 

“ So, so, Master Yvard,” said Cufte, in English, “ if you do come 
into an enemy’s camp incog., it is in reasonably good company. 
That girl is Italian, Winchester ; and she even seems modest !” 


* The question of impressment is now settled for ever. The United States have 
now a mortgage on the Canadas to secure the good behavior of Great Britain. 


WING-AND-WING. 


269 


“ Little Ghita !” exclaimed Vito Viti, “ as I hope one day to 
lie in the bosom of Father Abraham ! Bellissima Ghita, what 
has brought thee here, and in such evil company ?” 

Ghita was in tears ; but, uncertain how far Raoul was committed, 
she struggled for self-command, and did succeed in suppressing 
emotions that might otherwise have rendered his situation more 
dangerous. Drying her eyes, she curtsied to the vice-governatore 
and the podesta, and then answered the question. 

“ Signori,” she said, “ it is a relief to meet countrymen and 
old acquaintances, on board this strange ship ; and I look to 
you for protection. I do not call it strange, or evil company, 
for an orphan niece to be on the water with her uncle and one 
that has ever been a father to her.” 

“ Ah — sure enough, vice-governatore, this is Carlo Giuntotardi, 
the uncle ; and the man who dwells so much with the saints, 
even on earth, that he seldom speaks to a sinner. But thou 
knowest, little Ghita, that one of thy watermen is no less a per- 
son than Raoul Yvard, the wickedest corsair that sails out of 
France, and the pest and persecution of the whole Italian coast ? 
Did the church condescend to notice such an unbelieving repub- 
lican, it would be to command all its faithful to unite in their 

prayers for his destruction.” 

€ 

“ Raoul Yvard 1” repeated Ghita, with sufficient astonishment 
in her manner to satisfy any reasonable amount of wonder, on 
the part of the other. “ Are you certain, Signor Podesta, of 
the truth of w r hat you say ?” 

“As certain as the confession of the party himself can 
make us.” 

“ Confession, Signore !” 

“ Si, bella Ghita ; confession — your boatman — your man 
of Capri — your lazzarone, confesses himself to be neither more 
nor less than the commander of that worker of iniquity, le Feu- 
Follet.” 

“ Does le Feu-Follet do more than other cruisers of the 
enemy ?”■ — but Ghita felt she was getting to be indiscreet, and 
she ceased. 


270 


WING-AxND-WING. 


“ I do believe, Winchester,” said Cuffe, “ that this is the very 
girl, and yonder is the very old man, who came into Nelson’s 
cabin, to-day, with something to say about the poor prince who 
was executed this afternoon !” 

“ What could such people have in common with the unfortu- 
nate Caraccioli ?” 

u Sure enough — yet these are the people. The Queen of 
the Fleet — our Lady Admiraless, had it all to herself; and what 
passed between them, in Italian, I know no more than if it had 
been in Greek. She never told me, you may rest assured ; and, 
from the look of her eye, I question a good deal if she ever told 
Nelson.” 

“ I wish to heaven his lordship would cut adrift from his 
moorings alongside that craft, Captain Cuffe. I do assure you, 
sir, the fleet begins to talk loudly on the subject ; — was it any 
other man, there’d be the devil to pay about it — but we can all 
stand a good deal from Nelson and Bronte.” 

“ Well — well — let every man father his own children : you 
ought to be quiet, Winchester, for he asked very kindly about 
your hurt to-day, and would have sent you aboard some knick- 
knack or other for the stomach, but I told him you were all 
a-tanto again, and at duty. What between his head, and his 
arm, and his eye, he’s got to be such a hulk himself, that he 
thinks every wounded man a sort of a relation. I should not 
complain, however, if the small-pox could lay hold of that 
beauty .” 

“ This has been a bad day’s work for England, depend on it, 
Captain Cuffe !” 

“ Well, if it has, St. Vincent and the Nile were good days’ 
works ; and we’ll let one balance the other. Inquire of this 
young woman, Mr. Griffin, if I had not the pleasure of seeing 
her to-day on board the Foudroyant?” 

The question was put, as desired, and Ghita quietly, but 
unhesitatingly, answered in the affirmative. 

“ Then ask her to explain how she happened to fall into the 
company of Raoul Yvard ?” 


WIN G-AND- WING. 


271 


“Signori,” said Ghita, naturally, for she had nothing to 
conceal on this point, “ we live on Monte Argentaro, where my 
uncle is the keeper of the Prince’s towers. You know, we have 
much to fear from the barbarians along all that coast ; and last 
season, when the peace with France kept the Inglesi at a 
distance — I know not how it is, signore, but they say the 
barbarians are always hardest on the enemies of Inghilterra — 
but, the past season, a boat from a rover had seized upon my 
uncle and myself, and were carrying us off into captivity, when 
a Frenchman, and his lugger, rescued us. From that time we 
became friends ; and our friend has often stopped near our 
towers to visit us. To-day, we found him in a boat, by the side 
of the English admiral’s ship ; and, as an old acquaintance, he 
undertook to brinof us to the Sorrentine shore, where we are at 
present staying with my mother’s sister.” 

This was told so naturally, as to carry with it the conviction 
of its truth ; and when Griffin had translated it, he did not fail 
to assure his superior that he would pledge himself for the 
accuracy of the statement. 

“ Aye, you young luffs, Griffin, are never backward with your 
vows for or to pretty girls,” answered Cuffe. u The girl does 
seem honest, however ; and, what is more extraordinary, for 
the company she is in, she seems modest too. Tell her she 
shall not be harmed, though we cannot deprive ourselves of the 
pleasure of her company immediately. She shall have the 
larboard state-room in my cabin until morning, where she and 
her uncle may live a great deal more comfortably than in one 
of their out-of-door Neapolitan rookeries. Monte Argentaro, 
ha! — That’s a bluff just beyond the Roman coast, and it is 
famously besprinkled with towers — half a dozen of them at 
least within as many miles, and who knows but this Jack-o’- 
Lantern may be extinguished some fine morning, should we fail 
of laying our hands on it now ?” 

u We can hardly fail of the last, Captain Cuffe, having her 
commander in our possession.” 

Orders were then given to dispose of the prisoners, leaving 


272 


WING-AND-WING. 


the boat on deck. Raoul was sent below, and put in a canvas 
state-room, the arms having been removed, even to the razors, 
and a. sentinel placed at the door. Escape from such a 

situation was impossible ; and as for self-violence, when that 
point was considered, Cuffe had coolly remarked — “ Poor devil ; 
hanged he must be, and if he should be his own executioner, it 
will save us the discomfort of having a scene on board. I 
suppose Nelson will order him to our fore-yard-arm, as a jewel- 
block. I don’t see why he cannot use a Neapolitan frigate for 
this job, too ; they are good for nothing else.” 

“ I rather think, Captain Cuffe, he will swing on board his 
own lugger, should we succeed in catching her,” answered the 
lieutenant. 

“ By George, you’re right, Griffin ; and that’s another 
inducement for looking out sharp for the Few-Folly. How 
much better it would have been had we burnt them all in a 
bunch off the Golo !” 

Then followed the arrangement by which the prisoner was 
put into the gun-room, as mentioned. Ghita and her uncle 
were shown into the empty cabin state-room, and mattresses 
were provided on which they might repose. Then the captain 
and his two guests retired to the after-cabin, whither Griffin v r as 
invited to accompany them. Here the captain recollected that 
there had been a fourth individual in the boat, and he sent an 
order on deck for him to come down for examination. Ithuel, 
observing the attention of the officers occupied by Ghita and 
her uncle, had stolen back towards his ow T n yawl, of which 
he had taken possession, stretching himself out at length, with 
the apparent design to sleep, but in reality to keep himself “ out 
of mind,” by remaining “out of sight;” reserving, in petto, an 
intention to jump overboard, should the ship go near enough to 
the land to give him a chance for his life, after the moon set. 
In this situation he was found, aroused from his lair, and led 
into the cabin. 

It has been mentioned that Ithuel would not consent to trust 
himself near the Proserpine without disguising his person. 


WING-AND-WIN6. 


273 


Raoul being well provided with all the materials for a masque- 
rade, this had been effected by putting a black curling wig over 
his own lank, sandy hair, coloring his whiskers and eyebrows, 
and trusting the remainder to the transformation which might 
be produced by the dress, or rather undress, of a Neapolitan 
waterman. The greatest obstacle to this arrangement had been 
a certain queue, which Ithuel habitually wore in a cured eel-skin 
that he had brought with him from America, eight years before, 
and both of which, “queue and eel-skin,” he cherished as relics 
of better days. Once a week this queue was unbound and 
combed, but all the remainder of the time it continued in a 
solid mass quite a foot in length, being as hard and about as 
thick as a rope an inch in diameter. Now, the queue had 
undergone its hebdomadal combing just an hour before Raoul 
announced his intention to proceed to Naples in the yawl, and 
it would have been innovating on the only thing that Ithuel 
treated with reverence, to undo the work until another week had 
completed its round. The queue, therefore, was disposed of 
under the wig, in the best manner that its shape and solidity 
would allow. 

Ithuel was left in the fore-cabin, and his presence was 
announced to Cuffe. 

“ It’s no doubt some poor devil belonging to the Few-Folly’s 
crew,” observed the English Captain, in a rather compassionate 
manner, u and we can hardly think of stringing Kim up, most 
probably for obeying an order. That would never do, Griffin ; 
so we’ll just step out and overhaul his log, in French, and send 
him off to England to a prison-ship, by the first return vessel.” 

As this was said, the four in the after-cabin left it together, 
and stood before this new prisoner. Of course Ithuel understood 
all that was said in English, while the very idea" of being cate- 
chized in French threw him into a cold sweat. In this strait, 
the idea suddenly crossed his mind, that his greatest security 
would be in feigning dumbness. 

“Ecoutez, non ami,” commenced Griffin, in very respectable 
English-French, “ you are to tell me nothing but the truth, and 

12 * 


274 


WING-AND-WING. 


it may be all the better for you. You belong to the Feu-Follet, 
of course ?” 

Ithuel shook his head in strong disgust, and endeavored to 
make a sound that he intended to represent a dumb man 
struggling to utter the word “ Napoli.” 

“ What is the fellow after, Griffin ?” said Cuffe. “ Can it be 
he doesn’t understand French ! Try him a touch in Italian, 
and let us see what he will say to that.’’ 

Griffin repeated very much what he had said before, merely 
changing the language, and received the same gagging sounds 
for an answer. The gentlemen looked at each other, as much 
as to express their surprise. But, unluckily for Ithuel’s plan, 
he had brought with him from the Granite state, a certain pro- 
pensity to pass all the modulations of his voice through his nose ; 
and the effort to make a suppressed sound brought that member 
more than usually into requisition, thereby producing a certain 
disagreeable combination that destroyed everything like music 
that commonly characterizes the Italian words. Now, Andrea 
had been struck with this peculiarity about the tones of the 
American’s voice, in the interview at Benedetta’s wine-house ; 
and the whole connexion between Raoul and this singular 
person being associated in his mind, the truth flashed on him, 
as it might be, at a glance. Ilis previous success that night 
emboldened the worthy vice-governatore, and, without any 
remark, he walked steadily up to Ithuel, removed the wig, and 
permitted the eel-skin queue to resume its natural position on 
the back of its owner. 

“Ha! — What, veechy,” exclaimed Cuffe, laughing — “you 
unearth them like so many foxes to-night. Now, Griffin, hang 
me if I do not think I’ve seen that chap before ! Isn’t he the 
very man we found at the wheel of la Yoltigeuse, when we 
boarded her ?” 

“ Lord bless me, Captain Cuffe — no sir. This fellow is as 
long as two of that chap — and yet I know the face too. I wish 
you’d let me send for one of the young gentlemen, sir ; they’re 
worth all the rest of the ship at remembering faces.” 


WING-AND-WING. 


275 


The permission was given, and the cabin-steward was sent on 
deck to desire Mr. Roller, one of the oldest midshipmen, and 
who was known to have the watch, to come below. 

“ Look at this fellow, Mr. Roller,” said Griffin, as soon as the 
youngster had taken his place in the group, “ and tell us if you 
can make anything of him.” 

“ It’s the lazy-rony, sir, we hoisted in, a bit ago, when we 
struck the boat on deck.” 

“ Aye, no doubt of that — but we think we have seen his face 
before ; — can you make that out ?” 

Roller now walked round the immovable subject of all these 
remarks ; and he, too, began to think the singular-looking object 
was no stranger to him. As soon, however, as he got a sight 
of the queue, he struck Ithuel a smart slap on the shoulder, and 
exclaimed — 

“You’re welcome back, my lad! I hope you’ll find your 
berth aloft as much to your mind as it used to be. This is Bolt, 
Captain Cuffe, the fore-top-man, who ran from us when last in 
England, was caught and put in a guard-ship, from which they 
sent us word he stole a boat, and got off with two or three 
French prisoners, who happened to be there at the moment, on 
some inquiry or other. Don’t you remember it all, Mr. Griffin 
— you may remember the fellow pretended to be an American.” 

Ithuel was now completely exposed, and he at once perceived 
that his wisest way was to submit. Cuffe’s countenance dark- 
ened, for he regarded a deserter with a species of professional 
horror, and the impressed deserter, to whose services England 
had no other right than that of might, with an additional degree 
of resentment, that was very fairly proportioned to the inward con- 
sciousness he felt that a great wrong was done in detaining the man 
at all. There is nothing extraordinary in these feelings ; a very 
common resource, under such circumstances* being to imagine 
delinquencies that justify us to ourselves, by endeavoring to 
believe that the subject of any act of our oppression at least 
merits the infliction. 

“ Do you dare to deny what this young gentleman has just 


276 


WING-AND-WING. 


said, sirrali ?” demanded the captain. “ 1 now remember you, 
myself ; you are Bolt, the fore-top-man, that ran at Plymouth.” 

“ You’d a run, too, Captain Cuffe, had you been in my place, 
had the ship been at Jericho.” 

“ Enough — no impudence, sir. Send for the master-at-arms, 
Mr. Griffin, and have the fellow ironed : to-morrow we’ll look 
into the affair.” 

These orders were obeyed, and Ithuel was removed to the 
place where the master-at-arms usually reigns on board ship. 
Cuffe now gave the lieutenant his conge, and then withdrew to 
the inner-cabin, to prepare a despatch for the rear-admiral. He 
was near an hour writing a letter to his mind, but finally suc- 
ceeded. Its purport was as follows : He reported the capture 

of Raoul, explaining the mode and the circumstances under 
which that celebrated privateersman had fallen into his hands. 
He then asked for instructions as to the manner in which he 
was to dispose of his prisoner. Having communicated this 
important fact, he ventured some suggestions as to the probable 
vicinity of the lugger, and the hopes he entertained of being 
able to find out her precise situation, through the agency of 
Bolt, whose condition he also explained, hinting at the same 
time the expediency of bringing both delinquents to as speedy 
trials as possible, as the most certain manner of using their 
apprehensions in seizing le Feu-Follet. The letter concluded 
with an earnest request that another frigate, which was men- 
tioned, her captain being junior to Cuffe, and a fast-sailing sloop 
that was lying off Naples, might be sent down to assist him in 
“ heading off ” the lugger, as he feared the latter was too swift 
to be overtaken by the Proserpine alone, more especially in the 
light winds which prevailed. 

When this letter was written, addressed, and sealed, Cuffe 
went on deck again. It was now nine o’clock, or two bells, and 
Winchester had the quarter-deck nearly to himself. All was as 
tranquil and calm on the deck of that fine frigate as a moonlight 
night, a drowsy watch, a light wind, and smooth water, could 
render things in a bay like that of Naples. Gloamings of tire 


WING-AND-WING. 


277 


were occasionally seen over Vesuvius, but things in that direc- 
tion looked misty and mysterious, though Capri loomed up, 
dark and grand, a few miles to leeward, and Ischia was visible, 
a confused but distant pile on the lee-bow. An order from 
Cuffe, however, set everybody in motion. Yard and stay-tackles 
were overhauled and hooked on, the boatswain’s-mate piped the 
orders, and the first cutter was hoisted over the waist cloths, 
and lowered into the water. “ Away, there, you first cutters,” 
had been hoarsely called on the berth-deck, and the crew were 
ready to enter the boat by the time the latter was lowered. 
The masts were stepped, Roller appeared, in a pea-jacket, to 
guard against the night air, and Cuffe gave him his instructions. 

“ Set your sails, and stretch over under the north shore, 
Mr. Roller,” said the captain, who stood in the lee-gangway, to 
give a last word. “You will fetch in about Queen Joan’s 
Palace. There, you had better take to your oars and pull up 
along the land. Remember, sir, to join us by the first ship that 
comes out ; and, if none is sent, to come down with the morn- 
ing breeze in the boat.” 

Roller gave the customary “aye, aye, sir the boat shoved off ; 
as soon as from under the lee of the ship, the lugs were set, and 
half an hour later, the night had swallowed up her form. Cuffe 
remained an hour longer, walking the deck with his first- 
lieutenant ; and then, satisfied that the night would prove 
propitious, he went below, leaving orders to keep the ship lying- 
to until morning. 

As for Roller, he pulled alongside of the Foudroyant just 
as the bells of the fleet were striking eight, or at midnight. 
Nelson was still up, writing in his cabin. The despatch was 
delivered, and then the secretary of the admiral, and a clerk or 
two, were called from their berths, for nothing lagged that this 
active-minded man had in charge. Orders were written, copied, 
signed, and sent to different ships, by two o’clock, that the 
morning breeze might not be lost ; and not till then did the 
employes think of rest. 

Roller left the flag-ship at two, having eaten a hearty supper 


278 


WING-AND-WING. 


in Nelson’s own cabin, and repaired on board the Terpsichore, 
a smart little frigate of thirty-two guns, twelve pounders, with 
instructions to her captain to receive him. Two hours later, 
this ship, in company with another still smaller, the Ringdove, 
1 8 , left her anchorage, under a cloud of canvas, and stood down 
the bay, carrying studding-sails on both sides, with a light wind 
at north-west, heading towards Capri. 


WING-AND-WING. 


279 


CHAPTER XVII. 

\ 

“ Speak to the business, Master Secretary : 

Why are we met in council 7” 

King Henry VIII. 

When the idlers of the Proserpine appeared on deck the 
following morning, the ship was about a league to windward 
of Capri, having forged well over towards the north side of the 
bay, during the night, wore round, and got thus far back on the 
other tack. From the moment light returned, lookouts had 
been aloft with glasses, examining every nook and corner of the 
bay, in order to ascertain whether any signs of the lugger were 
to be seen, under its bold and picturesque shore. So great is 
the extent of this beautiful basin, so grand the natural objects 
which surround it, and so clear the atmosphere, that even the 
largest ships loom less than usual on its waters ; and it would 
have been a very possible thing for le Feu-Follet to anchor near 
some of the landings, and lie there unnoticed for a week, by the 
fleet above, unless tidings were carried to the latter by observers 
on the shore. 

« 

Cuffe was the last to come on deck, six bells, or seven o’clock 
striking, as the group on the quarter-deck first lifted their hats to 
him. He glanced around him, and then turned towards 
Griffin, who was now officer of the watch. 

“ I see two ships coming down the bay, Mr. Griffin,” he 
said — “ no signals yet, I suppose, sir ?” 

“ Certainly not, sir, or they would have been reported. We 
make out the frigate to be the Terpsichore, and the sloop, I 
know by her new royals, is the Ringdove. The first ship, 
Captain Cuffe, brags of being able to travel faster than anything 
within the Straits !” 


280 


WING-AND-WING. 


“ I’ll bet a month’s pay the Few-Folly walks away from her, 
on a bow line, ten knots to her nine. If she can do that with 
the Proserpine, she’ll at least do that with Mistress Terpsichore. 
There goes a signal from the frigate now, Mr. Griffin, though a 
conjuror could hardly read it, tailing directly on as it does. 
Well, quarter-master, what do you make it out to be ?” 

“ It’s the Terpsichore’s number, sir ; and the other ship has 
just made the Ringdove’s.” 

“ Show ours, and keep a sharp lookout ; there’ll be something 
else to tell us presently.” 

In a few minutes the Terpsichore expressed a wish to speak 
the Proserpine, when Cuffe tilled his maintopsail, and hauled 
close upon a wind. An hour later, the three ships passed 
within hail of each other, when both the junior commanders 
lowered their gigs and came on board the Proserpine to report. 

Roller followed in the first cutter, which had been towed down 
by the Terpsichore. 

The Terpsichore was commanded by Captain Sir Frederick 
Dasliwood, a lively young baronet, who preferred the active life 
of a sailor, to indolence and six thousand a year on shore ; and 
who had been rewarded for his enterprise by promotion and a 
fast frigate, at the early age of two and twenty. The Ringdove 
was under a master-commandant of the name of Lyon, who 
was just sixty years old, having worked his way up to his pre- 
sent rank by dint of long and arduous services, owing his last 
commission and his command to the accident of having been a 
first lieutenant at the battle of Cape St. Vincent. Both these 
gentlemen appeared simultaneously on the quarter-deck of the 
Proserpine, where they were duly received by the captain and 
all the assembled officers. 

“ Good morrow to you, Cuffe,” said Dasliwood, giving the 
other the tip of his fingers, as soon as the ceremonious part of 
the reception was over ; and casting a glance, half admiring, 
half critical, at the appearance of things on deck — “ What has 
Nelson sent us down here about, this fine morning, and — ha ! — 
how long have you had those brass ornaments on your capstan ?” 


WING-AND-WING. 


281 


“ They were only put there yesterday, Sir Frederick ; a little 
slush money did it all.” 

“ Has Nelson seen them ? I rather fancy not — they tell me 
he’s as savage as an Arab about knick-knackery nowadays. 
What an awkward job that was yesterday afternoon, by the 
w T ay, Cuffe !” 

“ It has been a bad business, and, as an old Agamemnon, I 
would give a year’s rank that it never had taken place.” 

“ A year’s rank ! — that’s a great deal ; a year would set me 
back, hard aground alongside of old Lyon, here. I was a lieu- 
tenant less than three years since, and couldn’t afford half a 
year. But all you old Agamemnons think as much of your 
little Nel. as if he were a pretty girl ; isn’t it true, Lyon ?” 

“ I dare say it may be, Sir Frederick,” answered Lyon ; “ and 
if you had been the first lieutenant of a two-decker, off Cape 
St.Vincent, on the 14th February, 1797, you would have thought 
as much of him too. Here we were, only fifteen sail in all, — 
that is, of vessels of the line — with the wind at — 

“ Oh, hang your battle, Lyon, I’ve heard all that at least 
seventeen times !” 

“Well, if ye liaave, Sir Frederick,” returned Lyon, who was 
a Scotchman, “ it’ll be just once a year since ye war’ born, leav- 
ing out the time ye war’ in the nursery. But we’ve not come 
here to enlighten Captain Cuffe in these particulars, so much as 
in obedience to an order of the rear-admiral’s — little Nel., as 
ye’ll be calling him, I suppose, Sir Frederick Dashwood ?” 

“Nay, it’s you old Agamemnons, or old fellows, who gave 
him that name — ” 

“ Ye’ll please to excuse me, sir,” interrupted Lyon, a little 
dogmatically — “ ye’ve never heard me call him anything but 
my lord, since His Majesty, God bless him ! was graciously 
pleased to elevate him to the peerage — nothing but ‘ my lord,’ 
and the 4 rear-admiral ;’ naval rank being entitled to its privi- 
leges even on the throne. Many a king has been a colonel, and I 
see no disparagement in one’s being an admiral. Won’t ye be 
thinking, Captain Cuffe, that since my lord is made Duke of 


282 


WING-AND-WING. 


Bront6, he is entitled to be called ‘Your Grace’ — all the Scot- 
tish dukes are so designated, and I see no reason why the rear-, 
admiral should not have his just dues as well as the best of 
them.” 

“ Let him alone for that,” said Cuffe, laughing ; “ Nel. will 
look out for himself, as well as for the king. But, gentlemen, 
I suppose you have not come down here merely for a morning 
w r alk — have I any reports to hear 

“ I beg your pardon, Captain Cuffe, but I was really forgetting 
my errand,” answered Dash wood. “ Here are your orders, and 
we are both directed to report to you. The lieutenant who 
brought the package aboard me, said there would be a spy to 
try, and a lugger to catch. Did they tell you anything of this 
matter, Lyon ?” 

“ No, Sir Frederick ; not being inquisitive, I hear but little 
of what is going on in the fleet. My orders are to report myself 
and ship to Captain Cuffe, for service, which I have the honor 
now to do.” 

“ Well, .gentlemen, here are further instructions for you. 
This is an order to hold a court, composed of Captain Richard 
Cuffe, of the Proserpine, president ; Captain Sir Frederick Dash- 
wood, Bart., of the Terpsichore, <fcc. &c. ; and Lyon, Winchester, 
and Spriggs, your first-lieutenant, Sir Frederick, for the trials of 
Raoul Yvard, a French citizen, on the charge of being a spy, 
and Ithuel Bolt, seaman, &c., on the charge of being a deserter. 
Here is everything in rule, and there are your respective orders, 
gentlemen.” 

“ Bless me, I’d no notion of this !” exclaimed Lyon, who was 
greatly averse to this part of an officer’s duty. “ I’d thought it 
altogether a trial of speed after a Frenchman, for which purpose, 
the rear-admiral, or my lord, or his grace, whichever it may be 
right to call him, had seen fit to bring three of his fastest ships 
together.” 

“ I wish it was nothing but the last, Captain Lyon ; but we 
have the disagreeable duty of trying a spy and a deserter before 
us. You will return to your ships, gentlemen, and follow us in 


WING-AND-WING. 


283 


to an anchorage. I intend to bring up, at a single anchor, 
under the shore at Capri, where we can lie during the calm, 
and get through with our courts. The cases will he clear, and 
not detain us long, and we can send look-outs up on the heights 
to examine the sea and the coast outside. In the meantime, we 
must be busy lest we lose the breeze. You will attend to the 
signal for the court.” 

At this order the two visitors got into their boats, and the 
Proserpine again tilled. The three vessels now made the best 
of their way towards the point of destination, anchoring off the 
town, or village, in the island of Capri, just as two bells struck. 
Ten minutes later, the Proserpine fired a gun, and ran up the 
flag which denotes the sitting 1 of a court-martial. 

Although it has not been deemed necessary to relate them, 
the reader will understand that all the details required by the 
law had been observed, as regards these trials ; the promptitude 
of the proceedings being partly characteristic of the decision of 
the admiral, but more in consequence of a wish to use the 
charges against the delinquents, as a means of seizing the true 
hero of our tale, the little Feu-Follet. While a mistaken, not 
to say a mawkish philanthropy, is unsettling so many of the 
ancient land-marks of society, and, among other heresies, is 
preaching the doctrine that “ the object of punishment is the 
reformation of the criminal,” it is a truth which all experience 
confirms that nothing renders justice so terrible, and consequently 
so efficient, as its promptitude and certainty. When all its 
requirements are observed, the speediest exercise of its functions 
is the most conducive to the protection of society, the real 
motive for the existence of all human regulations of this nature ; 
and it is a great merit of the much-abused English ordinances, 
that the laws are rarely made stalking-horses for the benefit of 
the murderer ,or the forger ; but that once fairly tried and 
convicted, the expiation of their crimes awaits the offenders with 
a certainty and energy that leave the impression on the commu- 
nity that punishments were intended to produce. That this 
people has done well in liberating itself from many of their 


284 


WING-AND-WING. 


inherited usages and laws, is as certain as that one age has 
interests different from another ; one set of circumstances, govern- 
ing principles at variance with those which preceded them ; but, 
it would be well also to remember, that, while moral changes 
are as necessary as physical exercise, there are truths that are 
eternal, and rules of right and prudence, which can never be 
departed from with impunity. 

When the members of the court mentioned, assembled in the 
cabin of the Proserpine, it was with all the forms and exterior 
observances that were necessary to command respect. The 
officers were in full dress, the oaths were administered with 
solemnity, the table was arranged with taste, and an air of 
decent gravity reigned over all. Little time, however, was lost 
unnecessarily, and the officer to whom had been assigned the 
duty of prevot-marshal, was directed to produce his prisoners. 

Raoul Yvard and Ithuel Bolt were brought into the cabin at 
the same moment, though they came from different parts of the 
ship, and were allowed to hold no communication with each 
other. When both were present, they were arraigned, and the 
accusations were read to them. Raoul having admitted his 
knowledge of English, no interpreter was sworn, but the pro- 
ceedings were had in the usual manner. As it was intended to 
try the Frenchman first, and Ithuel might be wanted as a wit- 
ness, the latter was taken out of the cabin again, courts-martial 
never permitting one witness to hear what another has testified, 
although an ingenious substitute for ears has been adopted of 
late, by publishing in the journals, from day to day, whatever 
passes, when the length of the proceedings will admit of such a 
device. 

“ We will now T sw r ear the Signor Andrea Barrofaldi,” com- 
menced the Judge Advocate, as soon as the preliminaries were 
observed. “ This is a Catholic bible, sir, and I will put the 
oaths in Italian, if you will have the goodness first to swear me 
in as an interpreter.” 

This w r as done, when the oath w r as duly administered to 
the vice-governature. Then came a few 7 questions as to the sta- 


WING-AND-WING. 


285 


tion, country, <fcc., of the witness, after which more material 
matter was inquired into. 

“ Signor Vice-Go vernato re, do you know the prisoner by 
sight ?” demanded the Judge Advocate. 

“ Sir, I have had the honor to receive him in my residence in 
the island of Elba.” 

“ Under what name and circumstances was he known to you, 
Signore ?” 

“ Eh — he called himself Sir Smees, a capitano in the service 
of the English king.” 

“ What vessel did he pretend to command ?” 

“ Ze Ving-y-Ving — a lugger, which I have since had reason 
to think is le Feu-Follct, a corsair under the French flag. Mon- 
sieur did me the favor to make two visits to Porto Ferrajo, in the 
character of Sir Smees.” 

“ And you know now that this is Raoul Yvard, the French 
privateersman you have mentioned ?” 

“Eh — know? — I know they say this is the Signor Yvard, 
and that ze Ving-y-Ving is le Feu-Follet.” 

“ They say , will not do, Signor Barrofaldi. Can you not say 
this much of your own knowledge ?” 

“Non, Signore.” 

The court was now cleared ; when it re-opened Vito Viti was 
sent for, and properly sworn, his attention being particularly 
directed to the cross on the back of the book. 

“ Did you ever see the prisoner before this occasion, Signor 
Viti ?” demanded the Judge Advocate, after the preliminary 
questions had been put. 

“ Signore, oftener than it is agreeable to remember. I do not 
think that two grave magistrates were ever more mystified than 
were the vice-go vernatore and myself! Eh-h-h — Signori, the 
wisest sometimes become like sucking children, when there 
passes a mist before the understanding.” 

“ Relate the circumstances under which this occurred, to the 
court, Signor Podesta.” 

“ Why, Signori, the facts were just these. Andrea Barrofaldi, 


286 


WING-AND-WING. 


as you know, is the vice-governatore of Porto Ferrajo, and I am 
its unworthy podesta. Of course it is our duty to look into 
all matters affecting the public weal, and more especially into the 
business and occupations of strangers who come into our island. 
Well, it is now three weeks or more since the lugger or felucca 
was seen — ” 

“ Which was it, a felucca or a lugger ?” demanded the Judge 
Advocate, holding his pen ready to write the answer. 

“ Both, Signore ; a felucca and a lugger.” 

“ Ah — there were two ; a felucca and a lugger.” 

“ No, Signore ; but this felucca was a lugger. Tommaso 
Tonti wished to mystify me about that, too ; but I have not 
been podesta in a sea-port so many years, for nothing. No, Sig- 
nori, there are all sorts of feluccas — ship-feluccas, brig-feluccas, 
and lugger-feluccas.” 

When this answer was translated, the members of the court 
smiled, while Raoul Yvard laughed out honestly. 

“ Well, Signor Podesta,” resumed the Judge Advocate — “the 
prisoner came into Porto Ferrajo in a lugger ?” 

“ So it was said, Signore. I did not see him actually on 
board of her, but he professed to be the commander of a certain 
vessel, in the service of the King of Inghilterra, called ze Ying-y- 
Ving, and said that his own name was Smees — si — il capitano, 
or Sir Smees.” 

“ Professed ? Do you not know that this lugger was the noto- 
rious French privateer, le Feu-Follet ?” 

“ I know they say so now, Signori ; but the vice-governatore 

J %j 7 O 7 o 

and I supposed her to be ze Ving-y-Ving.” 

“ And do you not know that the prisoner is actually Raoul 

L J 

Y vard ; of your own knowledge, I mean ?” 

7 %f O 7 

“ Corpo di Bacco ! — How should I know any such thing, Signor 
Guideca-Avvocato,” exclaimed Vito Yiti, who literally translated 
what he understood to be the title of his interrogator, thereby 
converting him into a sort of ship-felucca — “ how should I know 
any such thing ? I do not keep company with corsairs, except 
when they come upon our island and call themselves ‘ Sir Smees.’ ’’ 


287 


WIN6-AND-WING. 

The Judge Advocate and the members of the court looked 
gravely at each other. No one in the least doubted that the 
prisoner was Raoul Yvard, but it was necessary legally to prove 
it, before he could be condemned. Cuffe was now asked if the 
prisoner had not confessed his own identity, but no one could 
say he had done so in terms, although his conversation would 
seem to imply as much. In a word, justice was like to be in 
what is by no means an unusual dilemma for that upright func- 
tionary, viz. unable to show a fact, that no one doubted. At 
length Cuffe recollected Ghita and Ithuel, and he wrote their 
names on a piece of paper, and passed them down the table to 
the Judge Advocate. The latter nodded his head, as much 
as to say he understood the president’s meaning ; and then 
he told the prisoner he might cross-examine the witness, if he 
saw fit. 

Raoul fully understood his situation. Although he certainly 
had not entered the Bay of Naples with any of the ordinary 
views of a spy, he was aware how far he had committed him- 
self, and foresaw the readiness with which his enemies would 
destroy him, could they find the legal means of so doing. He 
also comprehended the dilemma in which his accusers were placed 
for the want of testimonv, and at once resolved to turn the cir- 
curnstance as much as possible to his advantage. Until that 
moment, the idea of denying his own identity had never crossed 
his mind ; but perceiving what he fancied an opening for escape, 
it was but natural to avail himself of its protection. Turning, 
then, to the podesta, he put his questions in English, that they 
might go fairly through the same process of interpretation as 
the rest of the examination. 

“You say, Signor Podesta,” he commenced, “that you saw 
me in the town of Porto Ferrajo, and in the island of Elba ?” 

“ Si — i n which town I have the honor to be one of the 
authorities.” 

“ You say I professed to command a vessel in the service 
of the King of England ; a felucca, called ze Ving-and-Ving ?” 

“ Si — ze Ying-y-Ving — the commander of that felucca.” 


288 


WIN G-AND-WING, 


“ I understood you to say, Mr. Podesta,” put in Lyon, u that 
the craft was a lugger ?” 

“ A felucca-lugger, Signor Capitano — nothing more nor less 
than that, on mv honor.” 

“ And all these honorable officers well know,” observed Raoul, 
ironically, “that a felucca-lugger, and a lugger, such as le Feu- 
Follet is understood to be, are very different things. Now, 
Signore, you have never heard me say that I am a French- 
man ?” 

“ Non — you have not been so weak as to confess that to one 
who hates the name of the Frangese. Cospetto ! If all the Grand 
Duke’s subjects detested his enemies as I do, he would be the 
most powerful prince in Italy !” 

“No doubt, Signore ; and now suffer me to inquire if you 
heard any other name for that felucca than ze Ving-and-Ving. 
Did I ever call her le Feu-Follet ?” 

“ Non — always ze Ving-y-Ying ; never anything else ; 
but—” 

“ Your pardon, Signore ; have the goodness to answer my 
questions. I called the felucca ze Ving-and Ving ; and I called 
myself le Capitaine Sineet ; is it not true ?” 

“ Si — Ving-y-Ying and il Capitano Smees — Sir Smees, a sig- 
nore of an illustrious English family of that name, if I remem- 
ber right.” 

Raoul smiled, for he was confident this notion proceeded 
principally from the self illusion of the two Italians themselves ; 
the little he had said on the subject having been drawn out 
more by their suggestions than by any design on his part. 
Still he did not deem it prudent to contradict the podesta, who, 
as yet, had testified to nothing that could possibly criminate 
him. 

“ If a young man has the vanity to wish to be thought noble,” 
answered Raoul, calmly, “ it may prove his folly, but it does not 
prove him a spy. You did not hear me confess myself a French- 
man, you say : now did you not hear me say I was born in 
Guernsey ?” 


WING-AND-WING. 


289 


“ Si — the Signore did say that the family of Smees came from 
that island — as the vice-governatore calls it, though I acknow- 
ledge I never heard of such an island. There are Sicilia, Sar- 
degna, Elba, Caprea, Ischia, Irian da, Inghilterra, Scozia, Malta, 
Capraya, Pianosa, Gorgona, and America, with several more in 
the east ; but I never heard of such an island as Guernsey. 
Si, Signore ; we are humble people, and I hope modest people 
in the island of Elba, but we do know something of the rest of 
the world, notwithstanding. If you wish to hear these matters 
touched on ingeniously, however, you will do well to call in the 
vice-governatore for half an hour, and invite him to open his 
stores of knowledge. San Antonio ! — I doubt if Italy has his 
equal — at islands, in particular.” 

“ Good,” continued Raoul ; “ and now tell these officers, Sig- 
nore Podesta, if you can say, on your oath, that I had anything 
to do with that felucca, ze Ving-and-Ving, at all.” 

u I cannot, Signore, except from your own words. You were 
dressed like one of these officers, here, in an English uniform, 
and said you commanded ze Ving-y-Ving. While speaking of 
islands, Signori, I forgot Palmavola and Ponza, both of which 
we passed in this ship, on our voyage from Elba.” 

“ Good — it is always well to be particular under oath. Now, 
Signor Podesta, the result of all your evidence is, that you 
do not know that the felucca you mention was le Feu-Follet, 
that I am a Frenchman even, much less that I am Raoul 1 vard, 
and that I told you that I was from Guernsey, and that my 
name was Jaques Smeet — is it not so ?” 

“ Si — you did say your name was Giac Smees, and you did 
not say you were Raoul Yvard. But, Signore, I saw you firing 
your cannon at the boats of this frigate, with French colors flying, 
and that is some signs of an enemy, as we understand these 
matters in Porto Ferrajo.” 

Raoul felt that this was a direct blow ; still, it wanted the 
connecting link to make it testimony. 

“ But you did not see me doing this ? — You mean you saw ze 
Ving-and-Ving in a combat with the frigate’s boats.” 

IS 


290 


WING-AND-WING. 


“ Si — that was it — but you told me you were commander 
of ze Ving-y-Vipg.” 

“Let us understand you,” put in the Judge Advocate — u is 
it the intention of the prisoner to deny his being a Frenchman 
and an enemy ?” 

“It is my intention, sir, to deny everything that is not 
proved.” 

“ But your accent — your English — nay, your appearance show 
that you are a Frenchman ?” 

“ Your pardon, sir. There are many nations that speak 
French, which are not French, to-day. All along the north 
frontier of France, is French spoken by foreigners — Savoy, and 
Geneva, and Vaud — also the English have French subjects in 
the Canadas, besides Guernsey and Jersey. You will not hang 
a man because his accent is not from London ?” 

“ We shall do you justice, prisoner,” observed Cuffe, “ and 
you shall have the benefit of every doubt that makes in your 
favor. Still, it may be well to inform you that the impression 
of your being a Frenchman and Raoul Yvard, is very strong ; 
and if you can show to the contrary, you would do well to 
prove it, by direct testimony.” 

“ How will this honorable court expect that to be done ? I 
was taken in a boat, last night, and am tried this morning, at a 
notice as short as that which was given to Caraccioli. Give me 
time to send for witnesses, and I will prove who and what I 
am.” 

This was said coolly, and with the air of a man assured of 
his own innocence, and it produced a slight effect on his judges ; 
for an appeal to the unvarying principles of right seldom falls 
unheeded on the ear. Nevertheless, there could be no doubt 
in the minds of the officers of the Proserpine, in particular, either 
as to the character of the lugger or as to that of the prisoner ; 
and men, under such circumstances, were not likely to allow an 
enemy who had done them so much injury to escape. The 
appeal only rendered them more cautious, and more determined 
to protect themselves against charges of unfair proceedings. 


WING-AND-WING. 


291 


“Have you any further questions to put to the witness, pri- 
soner ?” inquired the president of the court. 

“None, at present, sir — we will go on, if you please, gentle- 
men.” 

“ Call Ithuel Bolt,” said the Judge Advocate, reading the 
new witness’s name from a list before him. 

Raoul started, for the idea of the American’s being brought 
forward in this capacity had never occurred to him. In a 
minute Ithuel appeared, was sworn, and took his place at the 
foot of the table. 

“ Your name is Ithuel Bolt ?” observed the Judge Advocate, 
holding his pen in readiness to record the answer. 

“ So they say aboard here,” answered the witness, coolly — 
“ though, for my part, I’ve no answer to give to such a question.” 
“ Do you deny your name, sir ?” 

“ I deny nothing — want to say nothing, or to have anything 
to do with this trial or this ship.” 

Raoul breathed easier ; for to own the truth, he had not 
much confidence in Ithuel’s constancy or disinterestedness ; and 
he apprehended that he had been purchased with the promise 
of a pardon for himself. 

“ You will remember that you are under oath, and may be 
punished for contumacy, on refusing to answer.” 

“ I’ve some gineral idees of law,” answered Ithuel, passing his 
hand over his queue to make sure it was right, “ for we all do 
a little at that in Ameriky. I practised some myself, when a 
young man, though it was only afore a justice-peace. We used 
to hold that a witness needn’t answer ag’in himself.” 

“ Is it, then, on account of criminating yourself that you 
answer thus vaguely ?” 

“ I decline answering that question,” answered Ithuel, with 
an air of dignity. 

“ Witness, have you any personal knowledge of the prisoner ?” 
“ I decline answering that question, too.” 

“ Do you know anything of such a person as Raoul Yvard ?” 
“ What if I do ? — I’m a native American, and have a right 


292 


WING-AND-WING. 


to form acquaintances, in foreign lands, if I see it’s to my interest, 
or its agreeable to my feelin’s.” 

“ Have you never served on board His Majesty’s ships ?” 

“ What majesty ? — There’s no majesty in Ameriky, as I know, 
but the majesty of heaven.’’ 

“ Remember that your answers are all recorded, and may tell 
against you on some other occasion.” 

“ Not lawfully ; a witness can’t be made to give answers that 
tell ag’in himself.” 

“ Certainly not made to do it ; still he may do it, of his own 
accord.” 

“ Then it’s the duty of the court to put him on his guard. 
I’ve heerd that, ag’in and ag’in, in Ameriky.” 

“ Did you ever see a vessel called le Feu-Follet ?” 

“ How, in natur,’ is a mariner to tell all the vessels he may 
happen to see on the wide ocean !” 

“ Did you ever serve under the French flag ?” 

“ I decline entering at all into my private affairs. Being free, 
I’m free to sarve where I please.” 

“ It is useless to ask this witness any further questions,” Cuffe 
quietly observed. “ The man is well known in this ship, and his 
own trial will most probably take place as soon as this is ended.” 
The Judge Advocate assented, and Ithuel was permitted to 
withdraw, his contumacy being treated with the indifference 
that power is apt to exhibit towards weakness. Still there was 
no legal proof on which to convict the prisoner. No one 
doubted his guilt, and there were the strongest reasons, short of 
a downright certainty, for supposing that he commanded the 
lugger which had so recently fought the boats of the very . ship 
in which the court was sitting ; but notwithstanding, supposition 
was not the evidence the laws required ; and the recent execution ' 
of Caraccioli had made so much conversation, that few would 
condemn without seeing their justification before them. Things 
were really getting to be seriously awkward, and the court was 
again cleared for the purpose of consultation. In the private 
discourse that followed, Cuffe stated all that had occurred, the 


WING-AND-WING. 


293 


manner in which Raoul had been identified, and the probabili- 
ties — nay, moral certainties of the case. At the same time, he 
was forced to allow that he possessed no direct evidence that the 
lugger he had chased was a Frenchman at all, and least of all 
le Feu-Follet. It is true, she had worn the French flag, but she 
had also worn the English, and the Proserpine had done the 
same thing. To be sure, the lugger had fought under the 
drapeau tricolor , which might be taken as a strong circumstance 
against her ; but it was not absolutely conclusive, for the circum- 
stances might possibly justify deception to the last moment ; and 
he admitted that the frigate herself had appeared to fire at the 
batteries, under the same ensign. The case was allowed to be 
embarrassing ; and, while no one really doubted the identity of 
Raoul, those who were behind the curtains greatly feared they 
might be compelled to adjourn the trial for want of evidence, 
instead of making an immediate sentence the means of getting 
possession of the lugger, as had been hoped. When all these 
points had been sufficiently discussed, and Cuffe had let his 
brethren into his view of the real state of the case, he pointed 
out a course that he still trusted would prove effectual. After 
a few minutes of further deliberation on this information, the 
doors were opened and the court resumed its public sitting, as 
before. . 

“ Let a young woman who is known by the name of Ghita, 
be brought in next,” said the Judge Advocate, consulting his 
notes. 

Raoul started, and a shade of manly concern passed over his 
face ; but he soon recovered, and seemed unmoved. Ghita and 
her uncle had been taken from the cabin state-room, and placed 
below, in order that the private consultation might be perfectly 
secret, and it was necessary to wait a few minutes, until she 
could be summoned. These past, the door opened, and the girl 
entered the room. She cast a glance of tender concern at 
Raoul ; but the novelty of her situation, and the awful character 
of an oath to one of her sensitive conscience and utter inex- 
perience, soon drew her attention entirely to the scene more 


294 


WING-AND-WIN G. 


immediately before her. The Judge Advocate explained the 
nature of the oath she was required to take, and then he admi- 
nistered it. Had Ghita been taken less by surprise, or had 
she in the least foreseen the consequences, no human power 
could have induced her to submit to be sworn ; but, ignorant of 
all this, she submitted passively, kissing the cross with reverence, 
and even offering to kneel as she made the solemn protestation. 
All this was painful to the prisoner, who distinctly foresaw the 
consequences. Still, so profound was his reverence for Ghita’s 
singleness of heart and mind, that he would not, by look or 
gesture, in any manner endeavor to undermine that sacred love 
of truth which he knew formed the very foundations of her cha- 
racter. She was accordingly sworn, without anything occurring 
to alarm her affections, or to apprise her of what might be the 
sad result of the act. 


WING-AND-WING. 


295 


CHAPTER XVIII. 

‘'Hie et ubique ? Then we’ll shift our ground : — 

Come hither, gentlemen, 

And lay your hands upon my sword : 

Swear by my sword.” 

Hamlet. 


“Your name is Ghita,” commenced the Judge Advocate, 
examining: his memoranda — “ Ghita what ?” 

“ Ghita Caraccioli, Signore,” answered the girl, in a voice so 
gentle and sweet as to make a friend of every listener. 

The name, however, was not heard without producing a gene- 
ral start, and looks of surprise were exchanged among all in the 
room ; most of the officers of the ship who were not on duty 
being present as spectators. 

“ Caraccioli,” repeated the Judge Advocate, with emphasis. 
“ That is a great name in Italy. Do you assume to belong 
to the illustrious house which bears this appellation ?” 

“ Signore, I assume to own nothing that is illustrious, being 
merely an humble girl who lives with her uncle, in the prince’s 
towers on Monte Argentaro.” 

u How happens it, then, that you bear the distinguished 
name of Caraccioli, signorina V ’ 

“ I dare say, Mr. Medford,” observed Cuffe, in English, of 
course, “ that the young woman doesn’t know herself whence 
she got the name. These matters are managed very loosely 
in Italy.” 

“ Signore,” resumed Ghita, earnestly, after waiting respect- 
fully for the captain to get through, “ I bear the name of my 
father, as is usual with children, but it is a name on which a 
heavy disgrace has fallen, so lately as yesterday ; his father 


290 


WING-AND-WINGK 


having been a sight for the thousands of Naples to gaze on, as 
his aged body hung at the yard of one of your ships.” 

“ And do you claim to be the grand-daughter of that 
unfortunate admiral ?” 

“ So I have been taught to consider myself ; may his soul 
rest in a peace that his foes would not grant to his body ! That 
criminal, as you doubtless believe him, was my father’s father, 
though few knew it, when he was honored as a prince and a 
high officer of the king’s.” 

A deep silence followed ; the singularity of the circumstance, 
and the air of truth which pervaded the manner of the girl, 
uniting to produce a profound sensation. 

“ The admiral had the reputation of being childless,” observ- 
ed Cuffe, in an under tone. “ Doubtless this girl’s father has 
been the consequence of some irregular connexion.” 

“ If there has been a promise, or any words of recognition 
littered before witnesses,” muttered Lyon, “ accordin’ to the 
laws of Scotland, issue, and a few pairtenant expressions, will 
splice a couple as strongly as ye’ll be doing it in England, before 
either of the archbishops.” 

“ As this is Italy, it is not probable that the same law rules 
here. Proceed, Mr. Judge Advocate.” 

“ Well, Ghita Caraccioli — if that be your name — I wish to 
know if you have any acquaintance with a certain Raoul Yvard ; 
a Frenchman, and the commander of a private lugger-of-war, 
called le Feu-Follet ? Remember, you are sworn to tell the 
truth, the ivhole truth, and nothing but the truth.” 

Gliita’s heart beat violently, and the color came into her face 
with the impetuosity of sensitive alarm. She had no knowledge 
of courts, and the object of the inquiry was unknown to her. 
Then followed the triumph of innocence ; the purity of her 
mind and the quiet of her conscience reassuring her, by bring- 
ing the strong conviction that she had no reason to blush for 
any sentiment she might happen to entertain. 

“ Signore,” she said, dropping her eyes to the floor, for the 
gaze of all the court was fastened on her face — “ I am acquaint- 


WING-AND-WING. 


297 


ed with Raoul Yvard, the person you mention ; this is he, who 
sits between those two cannon. He is a Frenchman, and he 
does command the lugger called the Feu-Follet.” 

“ I knew we should get it all by this witness !” exclaimed 
Cuffe, unable to suppress the relief he felt at obtaining the 
required testimony. 

“ You say that you know this of your own knowledge,” 
resumed the Jud^e Advocate — 

“ Messieurs,” said Raoul, rising, “will you grant me leave to 
speak ? This is a cruel scene, and rather than endure it — rather 
than give this dear girl the cause for future pain that I know 
her answers will bring, I ask that you permit her to retire, 

yl* 

■when I promise to admit all that you can possibly prove by her 
means.” 

A short consultation followed, when Ghita was told to with- 
draw., But the girl had taken the alarm, from the countenance 
of Raoul, although she did not understand what passed in Eng- 
lish ; and she was reluctant to quit the place in ignorance. 

“ Have I said aught to injure thee, Raoul ?” she anxiously 
asked — “ I was sworn on the Word of God, and by the sacred 
cross — had I foreseen any harm to thee, the power of England 
would not have made me take so solemn an oath, and then I 
might have been silent.” 

u It matters not, dearest — the fact must come out in some 
way or other, and, in due time, you shall know all. And now, 
Messieurs,” — the door closing on Ghita — “ there need be no 
further concealment between us. I am Raoul Yvard — the 
person you take me for, and the person that some of you must 
well know me to be. I fought your boats, Monsieur Cuffe — 
avoided your bruldt , and led you a merry chase round Elba. 
I deceived the Signor Barrofaldi, and his friend the podesta, 
and all for the love of this beautiful and modest girl, who has 
just left the cabin ; no other motive having carried me into 
Porto Ferrajo, or into this Bay of Naples, on the honor of a 
Frenchman.” 

“ Umph !” muttered Lyon, “it must be admitted, Sir 

13 * 


298 


WING-AND-WING. 


Frederick, that the prisoner appeals to a most eligible 
standard !” 

On another occasion national antipathy and national prejudice 
might have caused the rest of the court to smile at this sally ; 
but there was an earnestness and sincerity in the manner and 
countenance of Raoul, which, if they did not command entire 
belief, at least commanded respect. It was impossible to 
deride such a man ; and long cherished antipathies were 
rebuked by his spirited and manly declarations. 

“There will be no further occasion for witnesses, Mr. Judge 
Advocate, if the prisoner be disposed to acknowledge the whole 
truth,” observed Cuffe. “It is proper, however, Monsieur 
Yvard, to apprise you of the possible consequences. You are 
on trial for your life ; the charge being that of coming on board 
an English ship in disguise, or rather, into the centre of an 
English fleet, you being an alien enemy, engaged in carrying on 
open warfare against His Majesty.” 

“ I am a Frenchman, Monsieur, and I serve my country,” 
answered Raoul, with dignity. 

“Your right to serve your country, no one will dispute ; but 
you must know it is against the laws of civilized warfare to act 
the part of a spy. You are now on your guard, and will decide 
for yourself. If you have anything to say, we will hear it.” 

“ Messieurs, there is little more to be said,” answered Raoul. 
“ That I am your enemy, as I am of all those who seek the 
downfall of France, I do not deny. You know who I am, and 
what I am, and I have no excuses to make for being either. 
As brave Englishmen, you will know how to allow for the love a 
Frenchman bears his country. As for coming on board this 
ship, you cannot bring that as a charge against me, since it was 
at your own invitation I did it. The rites of hospitality are as 
sacred as they are general.” 

The members of the court exchanged significant glances with 
each other, and there was a pause of more than a minute. Then 
the Judge Advocate resumed his duties, by saying — 

“ I wish you to understand, prisoner, the precise legal effect 


WING-AND-WING. 


299 


of your admissions ; then I wish them to he made formally and 
deliberately ; else we must proceed to the examination of other 
witnesses. You are said to be Raoul Yvard, an alien enemy, in 
arms against the king.” 

“ Monsieur, this I have already admitted ; it cannot honorably 
be denied.” 

“ You are accused of coming on board His Majesty’s ship 
Proserpine disguised, and of calling yourself a boatman of Capri, 
when you were Raoul Yvard, an alien enemy, bearing arms 
against the king.” 

“ This is all true ; but I was invited on board the ship, as I 
have just stated.” 

“ You are furthermore accused of rowing in among the ships 
of His Majesty, now lying in the Bay of Naples, and which ships 
are under the orders of Rear-Admiral Lord Nelson, Duke of 
Bronte, in Sicily, you beiDg in the same disguise, though an 
alien enemy, with the intent to make your observations as a spy, 
and, doubtless, to avail yourself of information thus obtained, to 
the injury of His Majesty’s subjects, and to your own advantage, 
and that of the nation you serve.” 

“ Monsieur, this is not so — 'parole ddionneur , I went into the 
bay in search of Ghita Caraccioli, who has my whole heart, and 
whom I would persuade to become my wife. Nothing else 
carried me into the bay ; and I wore this dress, because I might 
otherwise have been known and arrested.” 

“ This is an important fact, if you can prove it ; for, though 
it might not technically acquit you, it would have its effect on 
the commander-in-chief, when he comes to decide on the sentence 
of this court.” 

Raoul hesitated. He did not doubt that Ghita, she whose 
testimony had just proved so serious a matter against him, -would 
testify that she believed such was alone his motive ; and this, 
too, in a -way, and with corroborative circumstances, that would 
carry weight with them, more particularly as she could testify 
that he had done the same thing before, in the Island of Elba, 
and was even in the practice of paying her flying visits at Monte 


300 


WING-AND-WING. 


Argentaro. Nevertheless, Raoul felt a strong reluctance to have 
Ghita again brought before the court. With the jealous sensi- 
tiveness of true love, he was averse to subjecting its object to 
the gaze and comments of the rude of his own sex ; then he 
knew his power over the feelings of the girl, and had too much 
sensibility not to enter into all the considerations that might 
influence a man on a point so delicate ; and he could not relish 
the idea of publicly laying bare feelings that he wished to be as 
sacred to others as they were to himself. 

“ Can you prove what you have just averred, Raoul Yvard 
demanded the Judge Advocate. 

“ Monsieur — I fear it will not be in my power. There is one 
— but — I much fear it will not be in my power — unless, indeed, 
I am permitted to examine my companion ; he who has already 
been before you.’ ’ 

“ You mean Ithuel Bolt, I presume. He has not yet been regu- 
larly before us, but you can produce him, or any other witness ; 
the court reserving to itself the right to decide, afterwards, on 
the merits of the testimony.” 

“ Then, Monsieur, I could wish to have Etoo-ell here.” 

The necessary directions were given, and Ithuel soon stood in 
the presence of his judges. The oath was tendered, and Ithuel 
took it like a man who had done such things before. 

u Your name is Ithuel Bolt?” commenced the Judge Advocate. 
“ So they call me on board this ship — but if I am to be a 
witness, let me swear freely ; I don't wish to have words put 
into my mouth, or idees chained to me with iron.” 

As this was said, Ithuel raised his arms, and exhibited his 
handcuffs, which the master-at-arms had refused to remove, 
and the officers of the court had overlooked. A reproachful 
glance from Cuffe, and a whisper from Yelverton, disposed of 
the difficulty — Ithuel was released. 

“Now I can answer more conscientiously,” continued the 
witness, grinning sardonically ; “ when iron is eating into the flesh, 
a man is apt to swear to wdiat he thinks will be most agreeable 
to his masters. Go on, ’squire, if you have anything to say.” 


WING-AND-WING. 


501 


“ You appear to be an Englishman.” 

“ Do I ? Then I appear to be what I am not. I’m a native 
of the Granite state, in North America. My fathers went to 
that region, in times long gone by, to uphold their religious 
idees. The whole country thereabouts sets onaccountable store 
by their religious privileges.” 

“ Do you know the prisoner, Ithuel Bolt — the person who is 
called Raoul Yvard?” 

Ithuel was a little at a loss exactly how to answer this ques- 
tion. Notwithstanding the high motive which had led his 
fathers into the wilderness, and his own peculiar estimate of his 
religious advantages, an oath had got to be a sort of convertible 
obligation with him, ever since the day he had his first connex- 
ion with a custom-house. A man who had sworn to so many 
false invoices, was not likely to stick at a trifle in order to serve 
a friend ; still, by denying the acquaintance, he might bring 
discredit on himself, and thus put it out of his power to be of 
use to Raoul on some more material point. As between himself 
and the Frenchman, there existed a remarkable moral discre- 
pancy ; for, while he who prided himself on his religious ances- 
try and pious education, had a singularly pliable conscience, 
Raoul, almost an Atheist in opinion, would have scorned a 
simple lie, when placed in a situation that touched his honor. 
In the way of warlike artifices, few men were more subtle, or 
loved to practise them oftener, than Raoul Yvard ; but, the mask 
aside, or when he fell back on his own native dignity of mind, 
death itself could not have extorted an equivocation from him. 
On the other hand, Ithuel had an affection for a lie — more 
especially if it served himself, or injured his enemy ; finding a 
mode of reconciling all this to his spirituality, that is somewhat 
peculiar to fanaticism, as it begins to grow threadbare. On the 
present occasion, he was ready to say whatever he thought 
would most conform to his shipmate’s wishes, and luckily he 
construed the expression of the other’s countenance aright. 

u I do know the prisoner, as you call him, ’squire,” Ithuel 
answered, after the pause that was necessary to come to his 


S02 


wing-and-wing. 


conclusion — “ I do know him well ; and a master crittur he is, 
when he fairly gets into a current of your English trade. Had 
there been a Rule Yvard on board each of the Frenchmen at 
the Nile, over here, in Egypt, Nelson would have found that his 
letter stood in need of some post-cripts, I guess.” 

“ Confine your answers, witness, to the purport of the ques- 
tion,” put in Cuffe, with dignity. 

Ithuel stood too much in habitual awe of the captain of his 
old ship, to venture on an answer ; but if looks could have 
done harm, that important functionary would not have escaped 
altogether uninjured. As he said nothing, the examination 
proceeded. 

“ You know him to be Raoul Yvard, the commander of the 
French privateer lugger, le Feu-Follet ?” continued the Judge 
Advocate, deeming it prudent to fortify his record of the 
prisoner’s confession of identity, with a little collateral evi- 
dence. 

“Why — I some think — ” answered Ithuel, with a peculiar 
provincialism, that had a good deal of granite in it — “ that is, I 
kind o’ conclude — ” catching an assent from Raoul’s eye — “ oh ! 
yes — of that there isn’t the smallest mite of doubt in the 
world. He’s the captain of the lugger, and a right down good 
one he is !” 

“ You were with him in disguise, when he came into the Bay 
of Naples yesterday ?” 

“ I in disguise, ’squire ! — What have I got to disguise ? I 
am an American of different callings, all of which I practyse, 
as convenience demands ; being a neutral, I’ve no need of 
disguises to go anywhere. I am never disguised, except when 
my jib is a little bowsed out ; and that, you know, is a come- 
over that befals most seafaring men, at times.” 

“ You need answer nothing concerning yourself that will 
tend to criminate you. Ho you know with what inducement, 
or on what business, Raoul Yvard came into the Bay of Naples 
yesterday ?” 

“ To own to you the candid truth, 'squire, I do not,” answered 


WING-AND-WING. 


303 


Ithuel, simply ; for the nature of the tie which bound the young 
Frenchman so closely to Ghita, was a profound mystery, in all 
that related to its more sacred feelings, to a being generally so 
obtuse on matters of pure sentiment. 

“ Captain Rule is a good deal given to prying about on the 
coast ; and what particular eend he had in view, in this expedi- 
tion, I cannot tell you. His a’r’n’ds in shore, I must own, be 
sometimes onaccountable ! — Witness the island of El by, gen- 
tlemen.” 

Ithuel indulged in a small laugh, as he made this allusion ; 
for, in his own way, he had a humor in which he occasionally 
indulged, after a manner that belonged to the class of which he 
was a conspicuous member. 

“ Never mind what occurred at Elba. Prisoner, do you wish 
to question the witness ?” 

“ Etuelle,” asked Raoul, “ do you not know that I love Ghita 
Caraccioli ?” 

“ Why, Captain Rule, I know you think so, and say so — 
but I set down all these matters as somewhat various and onac- 
countable.” 

“ Have I not often landed on the enemy’s coast, solely to see 
her and to be near her ?” 

By this time, Ithuel, who was a little puzzled at first to 
understand what it all meant, had got his cue, and no witness 
could have acquitted himself better than he did from that 
moment. 

“ That you have,” he answered ; “a hundred times, at least ; 
and right in the teeth of my advice.” 

“ Was not my sole object in coming into the Bay yesterday, 
to find Ghita, and Ghita only ?” 

“ Just so. Of that, gentlemen, there can be no more ques- 
tion, than there is about Vesuvius standing up at the head of 
the Bay, smoking like a brick-kiln. That was Captain Rule’s 
sole a’r’n’d.” 

“ I just understood ye to say, witness,” put in Lyon, “ and 
that only a bit since, that ye did not know the prisoner’s motive 


304 


WING-AND-WING. 


in coming into the Bay of Naples. Ye called his behavior 
unaccountable.” 

“ Very true, sir, and so it is to me. I know’d all along, that 
love was at the bottom of it ; but I don’t call love a motive , 
while I do call it onaccountable. Love ’s a feelin’, and not a 
nature. That’s the explanation on’t. Yes, I know’d it was love 
for Miss Gyty, but then that’s not a motive in law.” 

“ Answer to the facts. The court will judge of the motive 
for itself. How do you know that love for the young woman you 
mention, was Raoul Yvard’s only object in coming into the Bay V* 

“ One finds out such things by keeping company with a man. 
Captain Rule went first to look for the young woman up on the 
mountain yonder, where her aunt lives, and I went with him to 
talk English, if it got to be necessary ; and not finding Gyty at 
home, we got a boat and followed her over to Naples. Thus, 
you see, sir, that I have reason to know what craft he was 
in chase of the whole time.” 

As all this was strictly true, Ithuel related it naturally, and in 
a way to gain some credit. 

“ You say you accompanied Raoul Yvard, witness, in a visit 
to the aunt of the young woman called Ghita Caraccioli,” 
observed Cuffe, in a careless way, that was intended to entrap 
Ithuel into an unwary answer — “ where did you go from, when 
you set out on your journey ?” 

“ That would depend on the place one kept his reckoning 
from, and the time of starting. Now, I might say I started 
from Ameriky, which part of the world I left some years since ; 
or I might say from Nantes, the port in which we fitted for sea. 
As for Captain Rule, he would probably sav Nantes.” * 

“In what manner did you come from Nantes?” continued 
Cuffe, without betraying resentment at an answer that might be 
deemed impertinent ; or surprise, as if he found it difficult 
to comprehend. “ You did not make the journey on horseback, 
I should think ?” 

“ Oh, I begin to understand you, Captain Cuffe. Why, if the 
truth must be said, we came in the lugger the Few-Folly.” 


WING- A ND-WING. 


305 


“ I supposed as much. And when you went to visit this 
aunt, where did you leave the lugger ?” 

“ We didn’t leave her at all, sir ; being under her canvas, our 
feet were no sooner in the boat, and the line cast off, than she 
left us as if we had been stuck up like a tree on dry ground.” 

“ Where did this happen ?” 

“ Afloat, of course, Captain Cuffe ; such a thing would hardly 
come to pass ashore.” 

“ All that I understand ; but you say the prisoner left his 
vessel in order to visit an aunt of the young woman’s ; thence 
he went into the Bay, for the sole purpose of finding the young 
woman herself. Now, this is an important fact, as it concerns 
the prisoner’s motives, and may affect his life. The court 
must act with all the facts before it ; as a commencement, 
tell us where Raoul Yvard left his lugger to go on yonder 
headland.” 

“ I do not think, Captain Cuffe, you’ve got the story exactly 
right. Captain Rule didn’t go on the mountain, a’ter all, so 
much to see the aunt as to see the niece at the aunt’s dwelling ; 
if one would eend right in a story, he must begin right.” 

“ I left le Feu-Follet, Monsieur le Capitaine,” Raoul calmly 
observed, “ not two cables’ length from the very spot where your 
own ship is now lying ; but it was at an hour of the night 
when the good people of Capri were asleep, and they knew 
nothing of our visit. You see the lugger is no longer here.” 

“ And do you confirm this story under the solemnity of your 
oath ?” demanded Cuffe of Ithuel, little imagining how easy it 
was to the witness to confirm anything he saw fit, in the way he 
mentioned. 

“ Sartain ; every word is true, gentlemen,” answered Ithuel. 
“ It was not more than a cable’s length from this very spot, 
according to my judgment.” 

“ And where is the lugger now ?” asked Cuffe, betraying the 
drift of all his questions, in his eagerness to learn more. 

Ithuel was not to be led on so hurriedly, or so blindly. 
Affecting a girlish sort of coyness, he answered, simpering : 


300 


WING-AND-WING. 


“ Why, Captain CufFe, I cannot think of answering a question 

% 

like that, under the solemnity of an oath, as you call it. No one 
can know where the little Folly is but them that’s in her.’’ 

CufFe was a little disconcerted at the answer, while Lyon smiled 
ironically ; the latter then took upon himself the office of cross- 
examining, with an opinion of his own penetration and shrewd- 
ness, that at least ought to have made him quite equal to 
encountering one of Ithuel’s readiness in subterfuges. 

o o 

“ We do not expect you to tell us of your own knowledge, 
witness,” he said, “ precisely the position by latitude and longi- 
tude, or by the points of the compass, at this identical instant, 
of the craft called by some the le Few-Folly, by others the Few- 
Follay, and, as it would now seem, by yourself, the Little Folly ; 
for that, as ye’ve well obsairved, can be known only to those who 
are actually on board her ; but ye’ll be remembering, perhaps, 
the place it was agreed on between you, where ye were to find 
the lugger at your return from this hazardous expedition that 
ye’ve been making amang ye, into the Bay of Naples?” 

“ I object to that question as contrary to law,” put in Itliuel, 
with a spirit and promptitude that caused the Judge Advocate 
to start, and the members of the court to look at each other in 
surprise. 

“ Nay, if ye object to the question on the ground that a 
true ainswer will be criminating yoursel’, ye’ll be justified in so 
doing, by reason and propriety ; but then ye’ll consider well the 
consequences it may have on your own case, when that comes 
to be investigated.” 

“ I object on gin’ral principles,” said Itliuel. “ Whatever 
Captain Rule may have said on the subject, admitting that 
he said anything, just to bear out the argument (by the way 
Ithuel called this word argooment, a pronunciation against 
which we enter our solemn protest) ; admitting, I say, that he 
said anything on the subject, it cannot be testimony, as hearsay 
evidence is ag’in law all the world over.” 

The members of the court looked at the Judge Advocate, 
who returned the glance with an air of suitable gravity, then, 


WIN G-AND’WIN G. 


307 


on a motion of Sir Frederick’s, the court was cleared to discuss 
the point in private. 

“ How’s this, Mr. Judge Advocate,” demanded Cuffe, as 
soon as the coast was clear ; “it is of the last importance to 
find where that lugger is — do you hold that the question is 
contrary to law ?” 

“ Its importance makes it pertinent, I think, sir ; as for the 
legality, I do not see how it can be affected by the circumstance 
that the fact came up in discourse.” 

“ D’ye think so ?” observed Sir Frederick, looking much more 
profound than was his wont. “ Legality is the boast of Eng- 
lish law, and I should dislike excessively to fail in that great 
essential. What is said, must be heard , to be repeated ; and 
this seems very like hearsay testimony. I believe it’s admitted 
all round we must reject that” 

“ What is your opinion, Captain Lyon ?” demanded the 
president. 

“ The case is somewhat knotty, but it may be untied,” 
returned the Scot, with a sneer on his hard features. “No 
need of Alexander and his sword to cut the rope, I’m thinking, 
when we bring common sense to bear on the point. What is 
the matter to be ascertained ? Why, the place which was 
agreed on as the point of rendezvous between this Rawl Eevart 
and his people. Now, this arrangement must have been made 
orally, or in writing ; if orally, testimony to the words uttered 
will not be hearsay, further than testimony to what a man has 
seen will be eyesight.” 

“ Quite true, Mr. President and gentlemen !” exclaimed the 
Judge Advocate, who was not a little relieved at finding a clue 
to lead him out of the difficulty. “ If the agreement had been 
made in writing, then that writing would have to be produced, 
if possible, as the best evidence the case affords ; but, being 
made in words, those words can be sworn to.” 

Cuffe was much relieved by this opinion, and, as Sir Frede- 
rick did not seem disposed to push his dissent very far, the 
matter would have been determined on the spot, but for a love 


308 


WING-AND-WING. 


of disputation that formed part and parcel, to speak legally on 
a legal subject, of Lyon’s moral temperament. 

“ I’m agreeing with the Judge Advocate, as to his distinction 
about the admissibility of the testimony on the ground of its 
not being technically what is called hearsay evidence,” he 
observed ; “ but a difficulty suggests itself to my mind touching 
the pairtenency. A witness is sworn to speak to the point 
before the court ; but he is not sworn to discuss all things in 
heaven and airth. Now, is it pairtenent to the fact of Rawl 
Eevart’s being a spy, that he made sairtain agreements to meet 
this or that fellow-creature, in this or that place ? Now, as I 
comprehend the law, it divides all questions into two great 
classes — the pairtenent and the impairtenent, of which the first 
are legal and the second illegal.” 

“ I think it would be a great piece of audacity,” said Sir 
Frederick, disdainfully, “ for such a fellow as this Bolt to 
pretend to call any question we can put him, impertinent !” 

“ That’s no just the p’int, Sir Frederick ; this being altogether 
a matter of law, while ye’ll be thinking of station and etiquette. 
Then, there’s two classes of the pairtenent, and two of the 
impairtenent ; one being legal and logical, as it might be, and 
the other conventional and civil, as one may say. There’s a 
nice distinction, latent, between the two.” 

“ I believe the court is of opinion that the question may be 
put,” observed Cuffe, who was impatient of the Scotchman’s 
subtleties, bowing to Sir Frederick, to ask an acquiescence which 
he immediately received. “We will re-open the doors, and 
proceed in the examination.” 

“ The court is of opinion, witness,” resumed the Judge Advo- 
cate, when every one was in his place again, “ that you must 
answer the question. In order that you may understand it, I 
will now repeat it. Where was it agreed between Raoul Yvard 
and his people, that they should meet again ?” 

“ I do not think the people of the lugger had anything to 
say in the matter,” answered Itliuel, in the most unmoved 
manner. “ If they had, I knew nothing on’t.” 


WING-AKD-WING. 


309 


The court felt embarrassed ; but as it would never do to be 
thwarted in this manner, a look of determination was exchanged 
between the members, and the examination proceeded. 

“ If not the people, the officers, then. Where was it agreed 
between the prisoner and his officers , that the former should 
find the lugger, when he returned from his expedition into the 
Bay ?” 

“Well, now, gentlemen,” answered Ithuel, turning his quid 
from one cheek into the other, u I some conclude you’ve no great 
acquaintance with Captain Rule, a’ter all. He is not apt to 
enter into any agreements, at all. What he wants done, he 
orders ; and what he orders, must be done.” 

“ What did he Order , then, as respects the place where the 
lugger was to wait for his return ?” 

u I am sorry to be troublesome, please the court,” returned 
the witness, with admirable self-possession ; u but law is law, all 
over the world, and I rather guess this question is ag’in it. In 
the Granite state, it is always held, when a thing can be 
proved by the person who said any particular words, that the 
question must be put to him, and not to a bystander.” 

“Not if that person is a prisoner, and on his trial,” answered 
the Judge Advocate, staring to hear such a distinction from such 
a source ; “ though -the remark is a good one, in the cases of 
witnesses purely. You must answer, therefore.” 

“ It is unnecessary,” again interposed Raoul. “ I left my 
vessel here, where I have told you, and had I made a certain 
signal, the last night, from the heights of St. Agata, le Feu- 
Follet would have stood in, near to the nocks of the Sirens, and 
taken me off again. As the hour is passed, and the signal is 
not likely to be made, it is probable my lieutenant has gone to 
another rendezvous, of which the witness knows nothing, and 
which, certainly, I shall never betray.” 

There was so much manliness and quiet dignity in Raoul’s 
deportment, that whatever he said made an impression. His 
answer disposed of the matter, for the moment at least. The 
Judge Advocate, accordingly, turned to other inquiries. Little 


310 


WING-AND-WING. 


remained, however, to be done. The prisoner had admitted his 
identity ; his capture, with all the attendant circumstances, was 
in proof ; and his defence came next. 

When Raoul rose to speak, he felt a choking emotion ; but 
it soon left him, and he commenced in a steady, calm tone, his 
accent giving point and interest to many of his expressions. 

“ Messieurs,” said he, “ I will not deny my name, my charac- 
ter, or my manner of life. I am a Frenchman, and the enemy 
of your country. I am also the enemy of the King of Naples, 
in whose territories you found me. 1 have destroyed his arid 
your ships. Put me on board my lugger, and I should do both 
again. Whoever is the enemy of la France, is the enemy of 
Raoul Yvard. Honorable seamen, like yourselves, Messieurs, 
can understand this. I am young. My heart is not made of 
rock ; evil as it may be, it can love beauty, and modesty, and 
virtue, in the other sex. Such has been my fate — I love Ghita 
Caraccioli ; have endeavored to make her my wife for more than 
a year. She has not authorized me to say that my suit was 
favored — this I must acknowledge ; but she is not the less 
admirable for that. We differ in our opinions of religion, and 
I fear she left Monte Argentaro, because, refusing my hand, she 
thought it better, perhaps, that we should not meet again. It 
is so with maidens, as you must know, Messieurs. But it is not 
usual for us, who are less refined, to submit to such self-denial. 
I learned whither Ghita had come, and followed ; my heart was 
a magnet, that her beauty drew after it, as our needles are drawn 
towards the pole. It was necessary to go into the Bay of 
Naples, among the vessels of enemies, to find her I loved ; and 
this is a very different thing from engaging in the pitiful 
attempts of a spy. Which of you would n&t have done the 
same, Messieurs ? You are braves Anglais, and I know you 
would not hesitate. Two of you are still youthful, like myself, 
and must still feel the power of beauty ; even the Monsieur that 
is no longer a young man, has had his moments of passion, like 
all that are born of woman. Messieurs, I have no more to say : 
you know the rest. If you condemn me, let it be as an unfor- 


WI ST G-AND-WING. 


311 


tunate Frenchman, whose heart had its weaknesses — not as an 
ignominious and treacherous spy.” 

The earnestness and nature with which Raoul spoke, were not 
without effect. Could Sir Frederick have had his way, the 
prisoner would have been acquitted on the spot. But Lyon 
was sceptical as to the story of love, a sentiment about which 
he knew very little ; and there was a spirit of opposition in him, 
too, that generally induced him to take the converse of most 
propositions that were started. The prisoner was dismissed, and 
the court closed its doors, to make up its decision by itself, in 
the usual form. 

We should do injustice to Cuffe, if we did not say that he 
had some feeling in favor of the gallant foe who had so often 
foiled him. Could he have had his will at that moment, he 
would have given Raoul his lugger, allowed the latter a 
sufficient start, and then gladly have commenced a chase round 
the Mediterranean, to settle all questions between them. But 
it was too much to give up the lugger as well as the prisoner. 
Then his oath as a judge had its obligations also, and he felt 
himself bound to yield to the arguments of the Judge Advocate, 
who was a man of technicalities, and thought no more of 
sentiment than Lyon himself. 

The result of the deliberation, which lasted an hour, was a 
finding against the prisoner. The court was opened, the record 
made up and read, the offender introduced, and the judgment 
delivered. The finding was, “ that Raoul Yvard had been 
caught in disguise, in the midst of the allied fleets, and that he 
was guilty as a spy.” The sentence was, to suffer death the 
succeeding day, by hanging at the yard-arm of such ship as the 
commander-in-chief might select, on approving of the sentence. 

As Raoul expected little else, he heard his doom with 
steadiness, bowing with dignity and courtesy to the court, as he 
was led away to be placed in irons, as befitted one condemned. 


312 


WING-AND-WING. 


CHAPTER XIX. 


44 The world’s all title-page ; there’s no contents ; 

The world’s all face ; the man who shows his heart 
Is hooted for his nudities, and scorned.” 

Night Thoughts. 


Bolt had not been tried. His case had several serious 
difficulties, and the orders allowed of a discretion. The 
punishment could scarcely be less than death, and, in addition 
to the loss of a stout, sinewy man, it involved questions of 
natural right, that were not always pleasant to be considered. 
Although the impressment of American seamen into the British 
ships of war was probably one of the most serious moral as well 
as political wrongs, that one independent nation ever received at 
the hands of another, viewed as a practice of a generation’s con- 
tinuance, it was not wholly without some relieving points. 
There was a portion of the British marine that disdained to 
practise it at all ; leaving it to the coarser spirits of the 
profession t& discharge a duty that they themselves found 
repugnant to their feelings and their habits. Thus, we remember 
to have heard an American seaman say, one who had been present 
on many occasions when his countrymen were torn from under 
their flag, that in no instance he ever witnessed, was the officer 
who committed the wrong of an air and manner that he should 
describe as belonging to the class of gentlemen, on shore. 
Whenever one of the latter boarded his vessel, the crew was 
permitted to pass unquestioned. 

Let this be as it might, there is no question that a strong and 
generous feeling existed in the breasts of hundreds in the British 
navy, concerning the nature of the wrong that was done a foreign 

J ' o o o 

* 

people, by the practice of impressing men from under their flag. 


WING-AND-WING. 


313 


Although Cuffe was too much of a martinet to carry his notions 
on the subject to a very refined point, lie was too much of a man 
not to be reluctant to punish another for doing what he felt he 
would have done himself, under similar circumstances, and what he 
could not but know he would have had a perfect right to do. It 
was impossible to mistake one like Ithuel, who had so many of the 
Granite peculiarities about him, for anything but what he was ; 
and so well was his national character established in the ship, 
that the sobriquet of The Yankee had been applied to him, by 
his shipmates, from the very first. The fact, therefore, stood 
him so far in hand, that Cuffe, after a consultation with Win- 
chester, determined not to put the alleged deserter on trial ; but, 
after letting him remain a short time in irons, to turn him to 
duty again, under a pretence that was often used on such occa- 
sions, viz. to give the man an opportunity of proving his 
American birth, if he were really what he so strenuously pro- 
fessed to be. Poor Ithuel was not the only one who was con- 
demned to this equivocal servitude, hundreds passing weary 
years of probation, with the same dim ray of hope, for ever 
deferred, gleaming in the distance. It was determined, how- 
ever, not to put Ithuel on his trial until the captain had 
conversed with the admiral on the subject, at least ; and Nelson, 
removed from the influence of the siren by whom he was 
enthralled, was a man inclined to leniency, and of even chival- 
rous notions of justice. To such contradictions is even a great 
mind subject, when it loses sight of the polar star of its duties ! 

When the sentence on Raoul was pronounced, therefore, and 
the prisoner was removed, the court adjourned ; a boat being 
immediately despatched to the Foudroyant with a copy of the 
proceedings, for the rear-admiral’s approbation. Then followed 
a discussion on much the most interesting topic for them all ; 
the probable position of, and the means of capturing the lugger. 
That le Feu-Follet was near, all were convinced ; but where she 
was to be found, it was hard to tell. Officers had been sent on 
the heights of Capri, one of which towers more than a thousand 
feet above the sea ; but they returned from a bootless errand. 

13 


314 


WING-AND-WING. 


Nothing resembling the lugger was visible in the offing, among 
the islands, or in the bays. A cutter had been sent to look 
v round Campanella, and another crossed the mouth of the bay, 
to take a look to the northward of Ischia, in order to make cer- 
tain that the treacherous craft had not gone behind the moun- 
tains of that island for a refuge. In short, no expedient likely 
to discover the fugitive was neglected. All failed, however ; 
boat after boat came back, without success, and officer after 
officer returned wearied and disappointed. 

Much of the day was passed in this manner, for it was a 
calm, and moving either of the ships was out of the question. 
In the full expectation of discovering the lugger somewhere in 
striking distance, Cuffe had even gone so far as to detail a party 
from each vessel, with a view to attack her in boats again ; 
feeling no doubt of success, now that he had the disposable force 
of three vessels to send against his enemy. Winchester was to 
have commanded, as a right purchased by his blood ; nor was 
the hope of succeeding in this way abandoned, until the last 
boat, that which had been sent round Ischia, returned, reporting 
its total want of success. 

“ I have heard it said,” observed Cuffe, as he and his brother 
captains stood conversing together on the quarter-deck of the 
Proserpine, just after this last report had been made — “ 1 have 
heard it said, that this Raoul Yvard has actually gone boldly 
into several of our ports, under English or neutral colors, and 
lain there a day or two at a time, unsuspected, until it has suited 
him to go out again. Can it be possible he is up, off the town ? 
There is such a fleet of craft in and about the mole, that a little 
lugger, with her paint and marks altered, might be among them. 
What think you, Lyon ?” 

“ It is sartainly a law of nature, Captain Cuffe, that smaller 
objects should be overlooked, in the presence of greater ; and 
such a thing might happen, therefore ; though I should place it 
among the improbables, if not absolutely among the impossi- 
bles. ’Twould be far safer, nevertheless, to run in, in the man- 
ner you designate, among the hundred or two of ships, than to 


WING- AND- WING. 


315 


venture alone into a haven or a roadstead. If you wish for retire- 
ment, Sir Frederick, plunge at once into the Strand, or take 
lodgings on Ludgate Hill ; but if you wish to be noticed, and 
chased, go into a Highland village, and just conceal your name 
for a bit ! Ah — he knows the difference well, who has tried 
both modes of life !” 

“ This is true, Cuffe,” observed the Baronet, u yet I hardly 
think a Frenchman, big or little, would be apt to come and 
anchor under Nelson’s nose.” 

a ’T would be something like the lion’s lying down with 
the lamb, certainly, and ought not to be counted on as very 
likely. Mr. Winchester, is not that our boat coming round the 
sloop’s quarter ?” 

“ Yes, sir — she has got back from Naples — quarter-master — ” 

“ Aye, quarter-master,” interrupted Cuffe, sternly, “ a pretty 
look- out is this ! Here is our own boat close in upon us, and not 
a word from your lips on the interesting subject, sir ?” 

This word, sir, is much used on board a man-of-war, and in 
all its convertible significations. From the inferior to the supe- 
rior, it comes as natural as if it were a gift from above ; from 
equal to equal, it has a ceremonious and be-on-your-guard air, 
that sometimes means respect, sometimes disrespect ; while from 
a captain to a quarter-master, it always means reproof, if it do 
not mean menace. In discussions of this sort, it is wisest for the 
weaker party to be silent ; and nowhere is this truth sooner 
learned than on ship-board. The quarter-master, consequently, 
made no answer, and the gig came alongside, bringing back the 
officer who had carried the proceedings of the court up to 
Naples. 

“ Here we have it,” said Cuffe, opening the important docu- 
ment, as soon as he and his brother captains were again in the 
cabin. “ Approved — ordered that the sentence be carried into 
execution on board his Majesty’s ship the Proserpine, Captain 
Cuffe, to-morrow, between the hours of sun-rise and sun-set.” 

Then followed the date, and the well known signature of 
“ Nelson and Bronte.” All this was what Cuffe both wished 


316 


WING-AND-WING. 


and expected, though he would have preferred a little more grace 
in carrying out the orders. The reader is not to suppose from 
this that our captain was either vengeful or bloody-minded ; or 
that he really desired to inflict on Raoul any penalty for the 
manner in which he had baffled his own designs and caused his 
crew to suffer. So far from this, his intention was to use the 
sentence to extort from the prisoner a confession of the orders he 
had given to those left in the lugger, and then to use this confes- 
sion as a means of obtaining his pardon, with a transfer to a pri- 
son-ship. Cuffe had no great veneration for privateersmen, nor 
was his estimate of their morality at all unreasonable, when he 
inferred that one who served with gain for his principal object, 
would not long hesitate about purchasing his own life, by the 
betrayal of a secret like that he now asked. Had Raoul 
belonged even to a republican navy, the English man-of-wars- 
man might have hesitated about carrying out his plan ; but, 
with the master of a corsair, it appeared to be the most natural 
thing imaginable to attempt its execution. Roth Sir Frederick 
and Lyon viewed the matter in the same light ; and, now that 
everything was legally done that was necessary to the design, 
the capture of the lugger was deemed more than half accom- 
plished. 

“ It is somewhat afflicting, too, Cuffe,” observed Sir Frederick, 
in his dratwling, indolent way ; “ it is somewhat afflicting, too, 
Cuffe, to be compelled to betray one’s friends, or to be hanged ! 
In parliament, now, we say we’ll be hanged if we do, and here 
you say you’ll be hanged if you don’t.” 

“ Poll, poh ! Dashwood ; no one expects this Raoul Yvard 
will come to that fate, for no one thinks he will hold out. We 
shall get the lugger, and that will be the end of it. I’d give a 

thousand pounds to see that d d Few-Folly at anchor 

within pistol shot of my stern, at this blessed moment. My feel- 
ings are in the matter.” 

“ Five hundred would be a high price,” observed Lyon, drily. 

“ I much doubt if the shares of us three come to as much as a 
hundred apiece, even should the craft fall into our hands.” 


WING-AND-WING. 


317 


“ By the way, gents,” put in Sir Frederick, gaping — “ suppose 
we toss up, or throw the dice, to see which shall have all, on 
supposition we get her within the next twenty-four hours, tim- 
ing the affair by this ship’s chronometers. You’ve dice on 
hoard, I dare say, Cuffe, and we can make a regular time of it, 
here, for half an hour, and no one the wiser.” 

“ Your pardon, Captain Dash wood ; I can suffer no such 
amusement. It is unmilitary, and contrary to regulations ; 
and, then, hundreds are not as plenty with Lyon and myself as 
they are with you. I like to pocket my prize money first, and 
sport on it afterwards.” 

“ You’re right, Captain Cuffe,” said Lyon ; “ though there 
can be no great innovation in sporting on Sir Frederick’s portion, 
if he see fit to indulge us. Money is an agreeable acquisition 
beyond a doubt, and life is sweet to saint and sinner alike ; but 
I much question your facility in persuading this Monshure Rawl 
to tell you his secret consairning the lugger, in the manner ye 
anticipate.” 

This opinion met with no favor ; and after discussing the 
point among themselves a little longer, the three captains were 
on the point of separating, when Griffin burst into the cabin, 
without even knocking, and altogether regardless of the usual 
observances. 

“ One would think it blew a typhoon, Mr. Griffin,” said Cuffe, 
coldly, “ by the rate at which you run before it.” 

“ It’s an ill wind that blows no luck, sir,” answered the lieu- 
tenant, actually panting for breath, so great had been Ms haste 
to communicate what he had to say. “ Our look-out, on the 
heights above Campanella, has just signalled us that he sees the 
lugger to the southward and eastward — somewhere near the 
point of Piane, I suppose, sir ; and what is better, the wind 
is coming off shore earlier than common this evening.” 

“ That is news !” exclaimed Cuffe, rubbing his hands with 
delight. “ Go on deck, Griffin, and tell AVinchester to unmoor ; 
then make a signal to the other ships to do the same. Now 
gentlemen, we have the game in our own hands, and let us see 


318 


WING-AND-WING. 


and play it skilfully. In a couple of hours it will be dark, and 
our movements can all be made without being seen. As the 
Proserpine is, perhaps, the fastest ship,’ 1 — at this remark Sir 
Frederick smiled ironically, while Lyon raised his eyebrows like 
one who saw a marvel — u As the Proserpine is, perhaps, the fast- 
est ship, she ought to go the furthest to leeward ; and I will get 
under way, and stand off to sea, keeping well to the northward 
and eastward, as if I were running for the straits of Bonifacio, 
for instance, until it gets to be dark, when I will haul up south 
for a couple of hours or so ; then come up as high as south-east 
until we are to the southward of the Gulf of Salerno. This 
will be before daylight, if the wind stand. At daylight, then, 
you may look out for me, off Piane, say two leagues, and to 
seaward, I hope, of the lugger. You shall follow, Sir Frederick, 
just as the sun sets, and keep in my wake, as near as possible ; 
heaving-to, however, at midnight. This will bring you fairly 
abreast of the gulf, and about mid-way between the two capes, 
a little west of south from Campanella. Lyon, you can lie 
here until the night has fairly set in, when you can pass be- 
tween Capri and the cape, and run down south two hours, and 
heave-to. This will place you in a position to watch the pas- 
sage to and from the gulf, under the northern shore.” 

“ And this arrangement completed to your satisfaction, Cap- 
tain Cuffe,” asked Lyon, deliberately helping himself to an 
enormous pinch of snuff, “ what will be your pleasure in the 
posterior evolutions ?” 

“ EaSh ship must keep her station until the day has fairly 
dawned. Should it turn out, as I trust it may, that we’ve 
got le Few-Folly in-shore of us, all we’ll have to do will 
be to close in upon her, and drive her up higher and higher 
into the Bay. She will naturally run into shallow water ; 
when we must anchor off, man the boats, send them north 

and south of her, and let them board her, under cover of 

% 

our fire. If we find the lugger embayed, we’ll have her as 
sure as fate.” 

“Very prettily conceived, Captain CufFe ; and in a way to be 


WING-AND-WING. 


319 


handsomely executed. But if we should happen to find the 
heathen outside of us ?” 

u Then make sail in chase to seaward, each ship acting for 
the best. Come, gentlemen, I do 'not wish to be inhospitable, 
but the Proserpine must be off She has a long road before 
her : and the winds of this season of the year can barely be 
counted on for an hour at a time.” 

Cuffe being in such a hurry, his guests departed without 
further ceremony. As for Sir Frederick, the first thing he did 
was to order dinner an hour earlier than he had intended, and 
then to invite his surgeon and marine-officer, two capital pairs 
of knives and forks, to come and share it with him, after which 
he sat down to play somewhat villanously on a flute. Two 
hours later, he gave the necessary orders to his first lieutenant ; 
after which he troubled himself very little about the frigate he 
commanded. Lyon, on the other hand, sat down to a veiy 
frugal meal alone, as soon as he found himself again in his 
sloop ; first ordering certain old sails to be got on deck, and to 
be mended for the eighth or ninth time. 

With the Proserpine it was different. Her capstan-bars flew 
round, and one anchor was actually catted by the time her 
captain appeared on deck. The other soon followed, the three 
topsails fell, were sheeted home and hoisted, and sail was set 
after sail, until the ship went steadily past the low promontory 
of Ana Capri a cloud of canvas. Her head was to the westward, 
inclining a little north ; and had there been any one to the 
southward to watch her movements, as there was not, so far as 
the eye could see, it would have been supposed that she was 
standing over towards the coast of Sardinia, most probably with 
an intention of passing by the Straits of Bonifacio, between that 
island and Corsica. The wind being nearly east, and it blow- 
ing a good breeze, the progress of the ship was such as promised 
to fulfil all the expectations of her commander. 

As the sun set, and darkness diffused itself over the Mediter- 
ranean, the lighter steering-sails were taken in, and the Proser- 
pine brought the wind abeam, standing south. One of the last 


320 


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tilings visible from the decks, besides the mountains of the 
islands and of the main, the curling smoke of Vesuvius, the 
blue void above and the bluer sea below, was the speck of the 
Terpsichore, as that ship followed, as near as might be, in her 
wake ; Sir Frederick and his friends still at table, but with a 
vigilant and industrious first lieutenant on deck, who was 
sufficient in himself for all that was required of the vessel in any 
emergency. The latter had his orders, and he executed them 
with a precision and attention that promised to leave nothing 
to be wished for. On the other hand, the people of the Ring- 
dove were kept at work mending old sails until the hour to 
“knockoff work” arrived; then the ship unmoored. At the 
proper time the remaining anchor was lifted, and the sloop went 
through the pass between Capri and Campanella, as directed, 
when Lyon sent for the first lieutenant to join him in his 
cabin. 

“ Look you here, McBean,” said Lyon, pointing to the cf^art 
which lay on the table ; “ Captain Cuffe has just run down off 
Piane, and will find himself well to leeward when the west wind 
comes to-morrow ; Sir Frederick has followed, famously clear of 
the land, and won’t be in a much better box. Now, this lugger 
must be pretty picking, if all they say of her be true. Ten to 
one but she has gold in her. These corsairs are desperate 
rogues after the siller, and, taking hull, sails, armament, head- 
money, and the scrapings of the lockers together, I shouldn’t 
marvel if she come to something as good as £8000 or £10,000. 
This would be fair dividing for a sloop, but would amount to 
a painfully small trifle, as between the officers of three ships, 
after deducting the admiral’s share. What are you thinking 
of, Airchy ?” 

“ Of just that, Captain Lyon. It would be dividing every 
lieutenant’s share by three, as well as every captain’s.” 

“ That’s it, Airchy, and so ye’ll have a shairp look out on deck. 
There’ll be no occasion to run down quite as far as Captain 
Cuffe suggested, ye’ll obsairve ; for, if in the bay, the lugger 
will work her way up towards this headland, and we’ll be all 


WING-AND-WING. 


321 


the more likely to fall in with her, by keeping near it ourselves. 
Ye’ll take the idea ?” 

“ It’s plain enou’, Captain Lyon ; and I’ll be obsairving it. 
How is the law understood as respects dairkness ? I understand 
that none share but such as are in sight; but is dairkness 
deemed a legal impediment ?” 

“ To be sure it is ; the idea being that all who can see may 
act. Now, if w r e catch the lugger before Captain CufFe and 
Sir Frederick even know where she is, on what principle can 
they aid and sustain us in the capture ?” 

“ And you wish a shairp look-out, the night, Captain 
Lyon ?” 

“ That’s just it, Airchy. Ye’ll all be doing your best in the 
way of eyes, and we may get the lugger alone. ’Twould be 
such a pity, Mr. McBean, to divide by three, when the sums 
might be kept entire !” 

Such was the state of feeling with which each of these three 
officers entered on his present duty. Cuffe was earnest in the 
wish to catch his enemy, and this principally for the credit of 
the thingr thou oh a little out of a desire to revenue his own 
losses ; Sir Frederick Dash wood, indifferent to all but his own 
pleasures ; and Lyon, closely attentive to the main chance. An 
hour or two later, or just before Cuffe turned in, he sent a mes- 
sage to request the presence of his first-lieutenant, if the latter 
were still up. Winchester was writing up his private journal ; 
closing the book, he obeyed the order, in that quiet, submissive 
manner, which a first-lieutenant is more apt to use towards his 
captain, than towards any one else. 

“ Good evening, Winchester,” said Cuffe, in a familiar, friend- 
ly way, which satisfied the subordinate that he was not sent for 
to be “ rattled down “ draw a chair and try a glass of this 
Capri wine, with some water. It’s not carrying sail hard to 
drink a gallon of it ; yet I rather think it fills up the chinks 
better than nothing.” 

“ Thank’ee, Captain Cuffe, we like it in the gun-room, and got 
off a fresh cask or two this morning, while the court was sitting. 

14 * 


322 


WING- A.ND-WIN G. 


So they tell me, sir, his lordship has put his name to it, and 
that this Frenchman is to swing from our fore-yard-arm some 
time to-morrow ?” 

“ It stands so on paper, Winchester ; hut if he confess where 
his lugger lies, all will go smoothly enough with him. How- 
ever, as things look noiv, we’ll have her, and thanks only to 
ourselves.” 

“ Well, sir, that will be best, on the whole. I do not like to 
see a man selling his own people.” 

“ There you are right enough, Winchester, and I trust we 
shall get along without it ; though the lugger must be ours. 
I sent for you, by the way, about this Bolt — something must be 
done with that fellow.” 

“ It’s a clear case of desertion, Captain Cuffe ; and, as it 
would now seem, of treason in the bargain. I would rather 
hang ten such chaps than one man like the Frenchman.” 

“ Well, it’s clear, Mr. Winchester, you do not bear malice ! 
Have you forgotten Porto Ferrajo, and the boats, already ? or 
do you love them that despitefully use you ?” 

“ ’T was all fair service, sir, and one never thinks anything of 
that. I ow r e this Monsieur Yvard no grudge for what he did ; 
but, now it’s all fairly over, I rather like him the better for it. 
But it’s a very different matter as to this Bolt ; a skulking 
scoundrel, who would let other men light his country’s 
battles, while he goes a-privateering against British commerce.” 
“ Aye, there’s the rub, Winchester ! Are they his country’s 
battles ?” 

“ Why we took him for an Englishman, sir, and we must act 
up to our own professions, in order to be consistent.” 

“ And so hang an innocent man for a treason that he could 
not commit.” 

“ Why, Captain Cuffe, do you believe the fellow’s whining 
story about his being a Yankee ? If that be true, we have done 
him so much injustice already, as to make his case a very hard 
one. For my part I look upon all these fellows as only so many 
disaffected Englishmen, and treat them accordingly.” 


WING-AND-WING. 


323 


“ That is a sure way to quiet one’s feelings, Winchester ; but 
it ’s most too serious when it comes to hanging. If Bolt deserve 
any punishment, he deserves death ; and that is a matter about 
which one ought to be tolerably certain, before he pushes things 
too far. I ’ve sometimes had my doubts about three or four of 
our people’s being Englishmen, after all.” 

“There can be no certainty in these matters, unless one 
could carry a parish register for the whole kingdom in his ship, 
Captain Cufle. If they are not Englishmen, why do they not 
produce satisfactory proofs to show it ? That is but reasonable, 
you must allow, sir ?” 

“ I don’t know, Winchester ; there are two sides to that 
question, too. Suppose the King of Naples should seize you, 
here, ashore, and call on you to prove that you are not one of 
his subjects ? How would you go to work to make it out — no 
parish register being at hand ?” 

“ Well, then, Captain Cuffe, if we are so very wrong, we had 
better give all these men up, at once — though one of them is 
the very best hand in the ship ; I think it right to tell you that, 
sir. 

“ There is a wide difference, sir, between giving a man up, 
and hanging him. We are short-handed as it is, and cannot 
spare a single man. I’ve been looking over your station bills, 
and they never appeared so feeble before. We want eighteen 
or nineteen good seamen to make them respectable again ; and 
though this Bolt is no great matter as a seaman, he can turn his 
hand to so many things, that he was as useful as the boatswain. 
In a word, we cannot spare him ; either to let him go, or to 
hang him ; even were the latter just.” 

“ I’m sure, sir, I desire to do nothing that is unjust or 
inconvenient, and so act your pleasure in the affair.” 

u My pleasure is just this then, Winchester. We must turn 
Bolt to duty. If the fellow is really an American, it would be 
a wretched business even to flog him for desertion ; and as to 
treason, you know, there can be none without allegiance. Nelson 
gives me a discretion, and so we’ll act on the safe side, and just 


324 


WIN G-AND-WING. 


turn him over to duty again. When there comes an opportu- 
nity, I’ll inquire into the facts of his case, and if he can make 
out that he is not an Englishman, why he must be discharged. 
The ship will be going home in a year or two, when everything 
can be settled fairly and deliberately. I dare say Bolt will not 
object to the terms.” 

“ Perhaps not, sir. Then there’s the crew, Captain Cuffe. 
They may think it strange treason and desertion go unpunished. 
These fellows talk and reason more than is always known 
aft.” 

“ I’ve thought of all that, Winchester. I dare say you have 
heard of such a thing as a King’s evidence ? Well, here has 
Raoul Yvard been tried and found guilty as a spy ; Bolt having 
been a witness. A few remarks judiciously made, may throw 
everything off on that tack ; and appearances will be preserved, 
so far as discipline is concerned.” 

“Yes, sir, that might be done, it’s true ; but an uneasy berth 
will the poor devil have of it, if the people fancy he has been a 
Kinor’s evidence. Men of that class hate a traitor worse than 
they do crime, Captain Cuffe, and they’ll ride Bolt down like 
the main tack.” 

“ Perhaps not ; and if they do, ’twill not be as bad as hang- 
ing. The fellow must think himself luckily out of a bad scrape, 
and thank God for all his mercies. You can see that he suffers 
nothing unreasonable, or greatly out of the way. So send an 
order to the master-at-arms to knock the irons off the chap, and 
send him to duty, before you turn in, Winchester.’’ 

This settled the matter as to Ithuel, for the moment, at least. 
Cuffe was one of those men who. was indisposed to push things 
too far, while he found it difficult to do his whole duty. There 
was not an officer in the Proserpine, who had any serious 
doubts about the true country of Bolt, though there was not 
one officer among them all who would openly avow it. There 
was too much “ granite” about Ithuel to permit Englishmen 
long to be deceived, and that very language on which the 
impressed man so much prided himself, would have betrayed 


WING-AND-WING. 


325 


his origin, had other evidence been wanting. Still there was a 
tenacity about an English ship of war, in that day, that did not 
easily permit an athletic hand to escape its grasp, when it had 
once closed upon him. In a great and enterprising service, like 
that of Great Britain, an esprit de corps existed in the respective 
ships, which made them the rivals of each other, and men being 
the great essentials of efficiency, a single seaman was relin- 
quished with a reluctance that must have been witnessed, fully 
to be understood. Cuffe consequently could not make up his 
mind to do full justice to Ithuel, while he could not make up 
his mind to push injustice so far as trial and punishment. 
Nelson had left him a discretion, as has been said, and this he 
chose to use in the manner just mentioned. 

Had the case of the New Hampshire man been fairly brought 
before the British Admiral, his discharge would have been 
ordered without hesitation. Nelson was too far removed from 
the competition of the separate ships, and ordinarily under the 
control of too high motives, to be accessory to the injustice of 
forcibly detaining a foreigner in his country’s service ; for it was 
only while under the malign influence to which there has already 
been allusion, that he ceased to be high-minded and just. 
Prejudiced he was, and in some cases exceedingly so ; America 
standing but little better in his eyes than France herself. For 
the first of these antipathies he had some apology ; since in 
addition to the aversion that was naturally produced by the 
history of the cis-atlantic "Republic, accident had thrown him in 
the way, in the West Indies, of ascertaining the frauds, decep- 
tions, and cupidities of a class of men that never exhibit national 
character in its brightest and most alluring colors. Still, he was 
too upright of mind, willingly to countenance injustice, and too 
chivalrous to oppress. But Ithuel had fallen into the hands of 
one who fell far short of the high qualities of the Admiral, while 
at the same time he kept clear of his more prominent weak- 
nesses, and who teas brought within the sphere of the competi- 
tion between the respective ships and their crews. 

Winchester, of course, obeyed his orders. He roused the 


326 


WING-AND-WING. 


master-at-arms from his hammock, and directed him to bring 

1 O 

Ithuel Bolt to the quarter-deck. 

“ In consequence of what took place this morning,” said the 
first lieutenant, in a voice loud enough to be heard by all near 
him, “ Captain Cuffe has seen fit to order you to be released, 
Bolt, and turned to duty again. You will know how to 
appreciate this leniency, and will serve with greater zeal than 
ever, I make no doubt. Never forget that you have been with 
a yard-rope, as it might be, round your neck. In the morning 
you will be stationed and berthed anew.” 

Ithuel was too shrewd to answer. He fully understood the 
reason why he escaped punishment, and it increased his hopes 
of eventually escaping from the service itself. Still he gagged 
a little at the idea of passing for one who peached — or for a 
“ AS/ateVevidence ” as he called it; that character involving 
more of sin, in vulgar eyes, than the commission of a thousand 
legal crimes. This gave Winchester no concern. After dis- 
missing his man he gossiped a minute or two with Yelverton, 
who had the watch, gaped once or twice somewhat provokingly, 
and going below, was in a deep sleep in ten minutes. 


W I N G - A N D - W I N G . 


327 


» 


CHAPTER XX. 

“White as a white sail on a dusky sea, 

When half the horizon’s clouded and half free, 

Fluttering between the dun wave and the sky, 

Is hope’s last gleam in man’s extremity.'’ The Island. 

The dawning of day, on the morning which succeeded, was 
a moment of great interest on board the different English ships 
which then lay off the Gulf of Salerno. Cuffe and Lyon were 
called, according to especial orders left by themselves, while 
even Sir Frederick Dash wood allowed himself to be awakened, 
to hear the report of the officer of the watch. The first was up 
quite half an hour before the light appeared. He even went 
into the main-top again, in order to get as early and as wide a 
survey of the horizon as he wished. Griffin went aloft with 
him, and together they stood leaning against the top-mast 
rigging, watching the slow approach of those rays which 
gradually diffused themselves over the whole of a panorama 
that was as bewitching as the hour and the lovely accessories 
of an Italian landscape could render it. 

“ I see nothing in-shore ,” exclaimed Cuffe, in a tone of dis- 
appointment, when the light permitted a tolerable view of the 
coast. “ If she should be outside of us our work will be only 
half done !” 

“ There is a white speck close in with the land, sir,” returned 
Griffin ; “ here, in the direction of those ruins, of which our 
gentlemen that have been round in the boats to look at, tell 
such marvels ; I believe, however, it is only a felucca or a 
sparanara. There is a peak to the sail that does not look 
lugger-fashion.” 

“ What is this, off' here at the northwvest, Griffin ? — Is it too 
large for the le Few-Folly ?” 


328 


WING-AND-WING. 


“ That must be the Terpsichore, sir. It’s just where she 
ought to be, as I understand the orders ; and I suppose Sir 
Frederick has carried her there. But yonder’s a sail, in the 
northern board, which may turn out to be the lugger ; she is 
fairly within Campanella, and is not far from the north shore 
of the bay.” 

“By George ! — that must be she ; Monsieur Yvard has kept 
her skulking round and about Amalfi, all this time ! Let us 
go down, and set everything that will draw, at once, sir.” 

In two minutes Griffin was on deck, hauling the yards, and 
clearing away to make sail. As usual the wind was light at the 
southward again, and the course would be nearly before it. 
Studding-sail booms were to be run out, the sails set, and the 
ship’s head laid to the northward, keeping a little to seaward of 
the chase. At this moment the Proserpine had the Point of 
Piane, and the little village of Abate, nearly abeam. The ship 
might have been going four knots through the water, and the 
distance across the mouth of the bay was something like thirty 
miles. Of course, eight hours would be necessary to carry the 
frigate over the intervening space, should the wind stand, as it 
probably would not, at that season of the year. A week later, 
and strong southerly winds might be expected, but that week 
was as interminable as an age, for any present purpose. 

Half-an-hour’s trial satisfied all on the deck of the Proserpine, 
that the chase was keeping off, like themselves, and that she 
was standing towards the mountains of Amalfi. Her progress, 
too, was about equal to that of the frigate, for, dead before the 
wind, the latter ship was merely a good sailer ; her great supe- 
riority commencing only when she brought the breeze forward 
of the beam. It had been supposed that the stranger, when 
first seen, was about fifteen miles distant, his canvas appearing 
both small and shapeless ; but some doubts now began to be 
entertained, equally as to his rig, his size, and his distan . If 
a large or a lofty vessel, of course he must be materially lurther 
off, and if a large or lofty vessel it could not be le Feu-Follet. 

The other frigate took her cue from the Proserpine, and stood 


WING-AND-WING. 


329 


across for the northern side of the gulf ; a certain proof that 
nothing was visible, from her mast-heads, to lead her in any 
other direction. Two hours, however, satisfied all on board the 
latter ship, that they were on a wrong scent, and that the vessel 
to leeward was their own consort, the sloop ; Lyon having, in 
his eagerness to get the prize before she could be seen from the 
other ships, carried the Ringdove quite within the bay, and thus 
misled CufFe and Sir Frederick. 

“ There can no longer be any doubt !” exclaimed the captain . 
of the Proserpine, dropping his glass, with vexation too strongly 
painted in his manner to be mistaken ; “ that is a ship ; and, 
as you say, Winchester, it must be the Ringdove ; though what 
the devil Lyon is doing away in there with her, unless he sees 
something close under the land, is more than I can tell. As * 
there is clearly nothing in this quarter, we will stand on, and 
take a look for ourselves.” 

This nearly destroyed the hope of success. The officers began 
to suspect that their look-out on Campanella had been deceived, 
and that what he had supposed to be a lugger, was, in truth, a 
felucca, or perhaps a xebec — a craft which might well be mistaken 
for a lugger, at the distance of a few leagues. The error, how- 
ever, was with those in the ship. The officer sent upon the 
heights was a shrewd, practised master’s-mate, who knew every- 
thing about his profession that properly came within his line, 
and knew little else. But for a habit of drinking, he would long 
since have been a lieutenant, being, in truth, an older sailor than 
Winchester ; but, satisfied of his own infirmity, and coming from 
a class in life in which preferment was viewed as a God-send 
rather than as a right, he had long settled down into the belief 
that he was to live and die in his present station, thereby losing 
most of the desire to rise. The name of this man was Clinch. 

In consequence of his long experience, within the circle of his 
duties, his opinion was greatly respected by his superiors, when 
he was sober ; and, as he had the precaution not to be otherwise 
when engaged on service, his weakness seldom brought him into 
any serious difficulties. CufFe, as a last hope, had sent him up 


330 


WING-AND-WING. 


on the heights of Campanella, with a perfect conviction that, if 
anything were really in sight, he would not fail to see it. All 
this confidence, however, had now ended in disappointment ; 
and, half-an-hour later, when it was announced to CufFe, that 
“ the cutter, with Mr. Clinch, was coming down the bay towards 
them,” the former even heard the name of his drunken favorite 
with disgust. As was usual with him, when out of humor, he 
went below as the boat drew near, leaving orders for her officer 
to be sent down to him, the instant the latter got on board. 
Five minutes later, Clinch thrust his hard-looking, weather- 
beaten, but handsome red countenance in at the cabin-door. 

“ Well, sir,” commenced the captain, on a tolerably high 

key, “ a d d pretty wild-goose chase you’ve sent us all 

on, down here, into this bay ! The southerly wind is failing 
already, and, in half-an-hour, the ships will be frying the pitch 
off their decks, without a breath of air ; w'hen the wind does 
come, it will come out at w T est, and bring us all four or five 
leagues dead to leeward !” 

Clinch’s experience had taught him the useful man-of-v T ar 
lesson, to bow to the tempest, and not to attempt to brave it. 
Whenever he was “ rattled-down,” as he called it, he had the 
habit of throwing an expression of surprise, comically blended 
with contrition, into his countenance, that seemed to say, “what 
have I done now ?” — or, “ if I have done anything amiss, you 
see how sorry I am for it.” He met his irritated commander, 
on the present occasion, with this expression, and it produced 
the usual effect of mollifying him a little. 

“Well, sir — explain this matter, if you please,” continued 
Cuffe, after a moment’s hesitation. 

“ Will you please to tell me, sir, what you wish explained ?” 
inquired Clinch, throwing more surprise than common, even, 
into his countenance. 

“ That is an extraordinary question, Mr. Clinch ! I wish the 
signal you made from yonder headland explained, sir. Did 
you not signal the ship, to say that you saw the le Few-Folly 
down here, at the southward ?” 


WING-AND-WING. 


331 


“ Well, sir, I’m glad there was no mistake in the matter,” 
answered Clinch, in a confident and a relieved manner. “ I 
was afraid at first, Captain Cuffe, my signal had not been 
understood.” 

“ Understood ! How could it be mistaken ? You showed a 
black ball, for 4 the lugger’s in sight.’ You’ll not deny that, I 
trust ?” 

“ No, sir ; one black ball, for 1 the lugger’s in sight.’ That’s 
just what I did show, Captain Cuffe.” 

“And three black balls together, for ‘she bears due south 
from Capri.’ What do you say to that 

“ All right, sir. Three black balls together, for ‘ she bears 
due south from Capri.’ I didn’t tell the distance, Captain 
Cuffe, because Mr. Winchester gave me no signals for that.” 
“And these signals you kept showing every half-hour, as 
long as it was light ; even until the Proserpine was off.” 

“All according to orders, Captain Cuffe, as Mr. Winchester 
will tell you. I was to repeat every half-hour, as long as the 
lugger was in sight, and the day lasted.” 

“ Aye, sir ; but you were not ordered to send us after a jack- 
o’-lantern, or to mistake some xebec or other, from one of the 
Greek islands, for a light, handy French lugger.” 

“Nor did I, Captain Cuffe, begging your pardon, sir. I 
signalled the Few-Folly, and nothing else, I give you my word 
for it.” 

Cuffe looked hard at the master’s-mate for half a minute, and 
his ire insensibly lessened as he gazed. 

“ You are too old a seaman, Clinch, not to know what you 
were about ! If you saw the privateer, be good enough to tell 
us what has become of her.” 

“ That is more than I can say, Captain Cuffe, though see her 
I did ; and that so plainly, as to be able to make out her 
jigger, even. You know, sir, we shot away her jigger-mast in 
the chase off Elba, and she got a new one, that steves for’rard 
uncommonly. I noticed that when we fell in with her in the 
canal of Piombino ; and seeing it again, could not but know it. 


332 


WI N G - A N D - W I N G . 


But there’s no mistaking the saucy Folly, for them that has 
once seen her ; and I am certain we made her out, about four 
leagues to the southward of the cape, at the time I first sig- 
nalled.” 

“ Four leagues ! — I had thought she must be at least eight 
or ten, and kept off that distance, to get her in the net. Why 
did you not let us know her distance ?” 

“ Had no signals for that, Captain Cuffe.” 

“ Well, then, why not send a boat to tell us the fact?” 

“ Had no orders, sir. Was told by Mr. Winchester just to 
signal the lugger and her bearings ; and this, you must own, 
Captain Cuffe, we did plain enough. Besides, sir — ” 

“Well; besides what?” demanded the captain, observing 
that the master’s-mate hesitated. 

“ Why, sir, how was I to know that any one in the ship 
would think a lugger could be seen eight or ten leagues ? 
That’s a long bit of water, sir ; and it would take a heavy 
ship’s spars to rise high enough for such a sight.” 

“ The land you were on, Clinch, was much loftier than any 
vessel’s spars.” 

“ Quite true, sir ; but not lofty enough for that, Captain 
Cuffe. That I saw the Folly, I’m as certain as I am of being 
in this cabin.” 

u What has become of her, then ? You perceive she is not in 
the bay now.” 

“I suppose, Captain Cuffe, that she stood in until near 
enough for her purpose, and that she must have hauled off* the 
land after the night set in. There was plenty of room for her 
to pass out to sea again, between the two frigates, and not be 
seen in the dark.” 

This conjecture was so plausible, as to satisfy Cuffe ; yet it 
was not the fact. Clinch had made le Feu-Follet, from his 
elevated post, to the southward, as his signal had said ; and he 
was right in all his statements about her, until darkness con- 
cealed her movements. Instead of passing out of the bay, as 
he imagined, however, she had hauled up within a quarter of a 


WING-AND-WING. 


333 


league of Campanella, doubled that point, brushed along the 
coast to the northward of it, fairly within the Bay of Naples, 
and pushed out to sea between Capri and Ischia, going directly 
athwart the anchorage the men-of-war had so recently quitted, 
in order to do so. 

When Raoul quitted his vessel, he ordered her to stand 
directly off the land, just keeping Ischia and Capri in view, 
lying-to under her jigger. As this was low sail, and a lugger 
shows so little aloft, it was a common expedient of cruisers of 
that rig, when they wished to escape observation. Monsieur 
Pintard, Raoul’s first-lieutenant, had expected a signal from his 
commander, at the very spot where Clinch had taken his sta- 
tion ; but seeing none, he had swept along the coast after dark, 
in the hope of discovering his position by the burning of a blue 
light. Failing of this, however, he went off the land again, in 
time to get an offing before the return of day, and to save the 
wind. It was the boldness of the manoeuvre that saved the 
lugger ; Lyon going out through the pass between Capri and 
Campanella, about twenty minutes before Pintard brushed close 
round the rocks, under his jigger and jib only, anxiously looking 
out for a signal from his captain. The Frenchmen saw the 
sloop-of-war quite plainly, and by the aid of their night-glasses 
ascertained her character ; mistaking her, however, for another 
ship, bound to Sicily or Malta — while their own vessel escaped 
observation, owing to the little sail she carried, the want of 
hamper, and her situation so near the land, which gave her a 
back-ground of rocks. Clinch had not seen the movements of 
the lugger after dark, in consequence of his retiring to the vil- 
lage of St. Agata, to seek lodgings, as soon as he perceived that 
his own ship had gone to sea, and left him and his boat’s crew 
behind. The following morning, when he made the ship to the 
southward, he pushed off, and pulled towards his proper vessel, 
as related. 

“ Where did you pass the night, Clinch ?” demanded the 
captain, after they had discussed the probability of the lugger’s 
escape. “ Not on the heights, under the canopy of heaven ?” 


334 


WING-AND-WING. 


“On the heights, and under the great canopy that has 
covered us both so often, Captain Cuffe ; but with a good 
Neapolitan mud-roof between it and my head. As soon as it 
was dark, and I saw that the ship was "ofi', I found a village, 
named St. Agata, that stands on the heights, just abeam of 
those rocks they call the Sirens, and there we were well berthed 
until morning.” 

“ You are lucky in bringing back all the boat’s crew, Clinch. 
You know it’s low water with us as to men, just now ; and our 
fellows are not all to be trusted ashore, in a country that is full 
of stone walls, good wine, and pretty girls.” 

“ I always take a set of regular steady-ones with me, Captain 
Cuffe ; I haven’t lost a man from a boat these five years.” 

“ You must have some secret, then, worth knowing ; for even 
the admirals sometimes lose their barge-men. I dare say, now, 
yours are all married chaps, that hold on to their wives as so 
many sheet anchors ; they say that is often a good expedient.” 

“ Not at all, sir. I did try that, till I found that half the fel- 
lows would run to get rid of their wives. The Portsmouth and 
Plymouth marriages don’t always bring large estates with them, 
sir, and the bridegrooms like to cut adrift at the end of the 
honeymoon. Don’t you remember when we were in the Blen- 
heim together, sir, we lost eleven of the launch’s crew at 
one time ; and nine of them turned out to be vagabonds, sir, 
that deserted their weeping wives and suffering families at . 
home!” 

“ Now you mention it, I do remember something of the 
sort ; draw a chair, Clinch, and take a glass of grog. Tim, put 
a bottle of Jamaica before Mr. Clinch. I have heard it said that 
you are married yourself, my gallant master’s mate ?’’ 

“ Lord, Captain Cuffe, that’s one of the young gentlemen’s 
stories ! If a body believed all they say, the Christian religion 
would soon get athwart-hawse, and mankind be all adrift in their 
morals,” answered Clinch, smacking his lips, after a very grate- 
ful draught. “ We’ve a regular set of high -fivers aboard this 
ship, at this blessed minute, Captain Cuffe, sir, and Mr. Win- 


WING-AND-WING. 


335 


Chester has his hands full of them. I often wonder at his 
patience, sir.” 

“ We were young once ourselves, Clinch, and ought to 
be indulgent to the follies of youth. But what sort of a berth 
did you find last night upon the rocks yonder ?” 

“ Why, sir, as good as one can expect out of Old England. 
I fell in with an elderly woman calling herself Giuntotardi — 
which is regular built Italian, isn’t it, sir ?” 

“ That it is — but, you speak the language, I believe, Clinch ?” 
“ Why, sir, I’ve been drifting about the world so long, that I 
speak a little of everything, finding it convenient when I stand 
in need of victuals and drink. The old lady on the hill and I 
overhauled a famous yarn between us, sir. It seems she has 
a niece and a brother at Naples, who ought to have been back 
night before last ; and she was in lots of tribulation about them, 
wanting to know if our ship had seen anything of the rovers ?” 
“ By George, Clinch, you were on the soundings there, had 
you but known it ! Our prisoner has been in that part of the 
world, and we might get some clue to his manoeuvres, by ques- 
tioning the old woman closely. I hope you parted good 
friends ?” 

“ The best in the world, Captain Cuffe. No oae that feeds 
and lodges me well, need dread me as an enemy !” 

“ I’ll warrant it ! That’s the reason you are so loyal, 
Clinch ?” 

The hard, red face of the master’s mate worked a little, and 
though he could not well look all sorts of colors, he looked 
all ways but in his captain’s eye. It was now ten years since 
he ought to have been a lieutenant, having once actually out- 
ranked Cuffe, in the way of date of service at least ; and his 
conscience told him two things quite distinctly ; first, the fact of 
his long and weary probation ; second, that it was, in a great 
degree, his own fault. 

I love His Majesty, sir,” Clinch observed, after giving a 
gulp, “ and I never lay anything that goes hard with myself to 
his account. Still, memory will be memory ; and spite of all I 


330 


WING-AND-WING, 


can do, sir, I sometimes remember what I might have been, as 
well as what I am. If his Majesty does feed me, it is with the 
spoon of a master’s-mate ; and if he does lodge me, it is in the 
cockpit.” 

“ I have been your shipmate often, and for years at a time,” 
answered Cuffe, good-naturedly, though a little in the manner 
of a superior ; “ and no one knows your history better. It is not 
your friends who have failed you at need, so much as a certain 
enemy, with whom you will insist on associating, though he 
harms them most who love him best.” 

“ Aye, aye, sir — that can’t be denied, Captain Cuffe ; yet it’s 
a hard life that passes altogether without hope.” 

This was uttered with an expression of melancholy that said 
more for Clinch’s character than Cuffe had witnessed in the man 
for years, and it revived many early impressions in his favor. 
Clinch and he had once been messmates, even ; and though 
years of a decided disparity in rank had since interposed their 
barrier of etiquette and feeling, Cuffe never could entirely forget 
the circumstance. 

“ It is hard, indeed, to live as you say, without hope,” returned 
the captain ; “but hope ought to be the last thing to die. You 
should make one more rally, Clinch, before you throw up 
in despair.” 

“ It is not so much for myself, Captain Cuffe, that I mind it, 
as for some that live ashore. My father was as reputable a 
tradesman as there was in Plymouth, and when he got me 
on the quarter-deck he thought he was about to make a gentle- 
man of me, instead of leaving me to pass a life in a situation 
that may be said to be even beneath what his own was.” 

“ Now you undervalue your station, Clinch. The berth of a 
master’s-mate in one of His Majesty’s finest frigates, is something 
to be proud off; I was once a master’s-mate — nay, Nelson has 
doubtless filled the same station. For that matter, one of His 
Majesty’s own sons may have gone through the rank.” 

“ Aye, gone through it, as you say, sir,” returned Clinch, 
with a husky voice. “ It does well enough for them that 


WING-AND-WING. 


331 

go through it, but it’s death to them that stick. It’s a feather 
in a midshipman’s cap to be rated a mate ; but it’s no honor to 
be a mate at my time of life, Captain CufFe.” 

“ What’s your age, Clinch ? — You are not much my 
senior ?” 

“ Your senior, sir ! — The difference in our years is not as great 
as in our rank, certainly, though I never shall see thirty-two 
again. But it’s not so much that , after all, as the thoughts of 
my poor mother who set her heart on seeing me with His 
, Majesty’s commission in my pocket ; and of another who set 
her heart on one that I’m afraid was never worthy her affec- 
tion.” 

“ This is new to me, Clinch,” returned the captain, with 
interest. “ One so seldom thinks of a master’s-mate marrying, 
that the idea of your being in that way has never crossed 
my mind, except in the manner of a joke.” 

“ Master’s-mates have married, Captain CufFe, and they have 
ended in being very miserable. But Jane, as well as myself, has 
made up her mind to live single, unless we can see brighter 
prospects before us than what my present hopes afford.” 

“ Is it quite right, Jack, to keep a poor young woman towing 
along in this uncertainty, during the period of life when her 
chances for making a good connexion are the best ?” 

Clinch stared at his commander until his eyes filled with 
teal's. The glass had not touched his lips since the conversa- 
tion took its present direction ; and the usual hard settled cha- 
racter of his face was becoming expressive once more, with 
human emotions. 

“ It’s not my fault, Captain CufFe,” he answered, in a low 
voice ; u it’s now quite six years since I insisted on her giving 
me up ; but she wouldn’t hear of the thing. A very respecta- 
ble attorney wished to have her, and I even prayed her to 
accept his offer ; and the only unkind glance I ever got from 
her eye, was when she heard me make a request that she told 
me sounded impiously almost to her ears. She would be 
a sailor’s wife or die a maid.” 

15 


338 


WING-AND-WING. 


“ The girl has unfortunately got some romantic notions con- 
cerning the profession, Clinch, and they are ever the hardest to 
be convinced of what is for their own good.” 

“ Jane Weston ! — Not she, sir. — There is not as much romance 
about her as in the fly-leaves of a prayer-book. She is all heart , 
poor Jane ; and how I came to get such a hold of it, Captain 
Cuffe, is a great mystery to myself. I certainly do not deserve 
half her affection, and I now begin to despair of ever being able 
to repay her for it.” 

Clinch was still a handsome man, though exposure and his 
habits had made some inroads on a countenance that by nature 
was frank, open, and prepossessing. It now expressed the 
anguish that occasionally came over his heart, as the helplessness 
of his situation presented itself fully to his mind. Cuffe’s feel- 
ings were touched, for he remembered the time when they were 
messmates, with a future before them that promised no more to 
the one than to the other, the difference in the chances which 
birth afforded the captain, alone excepted. Clinch was a prime 
seaman, and as brave as a lion, too ; qualities that secured 
to him a degree of respect that his occasional self-forgetfulness 
had never entirely forfeited. Some persons thought him the 
most skilful mariner the Proserpine contained ; and, perhaps, 
this was true, if the professional skill were confined strictly 
to the handling of a ship, or to taking care of her on critical 
occasions. All these circumstances induced Cuffe to enter more 
closely into the master’s-mate’s present distress than he might 
otherwise have done. Instead of shoving the bottle to him, 
however, as if conscious how much disappointed hope had 
already driven the other to its indiscreet use, he pushed it gently 
aside, and taking his old messmate’s hand with a momentary 
forgetfulness of the difference in rank, he said in a tone of kind- 
ness and confidence that had long been strangers to Clinch’s 
ears — 

“ Jack, my honest fellow, there is good stuff in you yet, if 
you will only give it fair play. Make a manly rally, respect 
yourself for a few months, and something will turn up that 


WING-AND-WING. 


339 


will yet give you your Jane, and gladden your old mother’s 
heart.” 

There are periods in the lives of men, when a few kind words, 
hacked by a friendly act or two, might save thousands of human 
beings from destruction. Such was the crisis in the fate of 
Clinch. He had almost given up hope, though it did occasion- 
ally revive in him, whenever he got a cheering letter from the 
constant J ane, who pertinaciously refused to believe anything to 
his prejudice, and religiously abstained from all reproaches. 
But it is necessary to understand the influence of rank on 
board a man-of-war, fully to comprehend the effect which was 
now produced on the master’s-mate, by the captain’s language 
and manner. Tears streamed out of the eyes of Clinch, and 
he grasped the hand of his commander, almost convulsively. 

“ What can I do, sir ? — Captain CufFe, what can I do ?” he 
exclaimed. “ My duty is never neglected ; but there are 
moments of despair, when I find the burden too hard to be 
borne, without calling upon the bottle for support.” 

“ Whenever a man drinks with such a motive, Clinch, I 
would advise him to abstain altogether. He cannot trust him- 
self ; and that which he terms his friend is, in truth, his direst 
enemy. Refuse your rations, even ; determine to be free. One 
week, nay, one day, may give a strength that will enable you 
to conquer, by leaving your reason unimpaired. Absence from 
the ship has accidentally befriended you — for the little you have 
taken here, has not been sufficient to do any harm. We are 
now engaged on a most interesting duty, and I will throw ser- 
vice into your way, that may be of importance to you. Get 
your name once fairly in a despatch, and your commission is 
safe. Nelson loves to prefer old tars ; and nothing would make 
him happier than to be able to serve you. Put it in my power 
to ask it of him, and I’ll answer for the result. Something may 
yet come out of your visit to the cottage of this woman, and do 
you be mindful to keep yourself in fortune’s way.” 

“ God bless you, Captain Cuffe — God bless you, sir,” an- 
swered Clinch, nearly choked ; “ I’ll endeavor to do as you wish.” 


340 


WING-AND-WING. 


“ Remember Jane and your mother. With such a woman 
dependent for her happiness on his existence, a man must be a 
brute not to struggle hard.” 

Clinch groaned — for CufFe probed his wound deep ; though 
it was done with an honest desire to cure. After wiping the 
perspiration from his face, and writhing on his chair, however, 
he recovered a little of his self-command, and became compara- 
tively composed. 

“ If a friend could only point out the way by which I might 
recover some of the lost ground,” he said, “ my gratitude to 
him would last as long as life, Captain CufFe.” 

“Here is an opening then, Clinch. Nelson attaches as much 
importance to our catching this lugger as he ever did to falling 
in with a fleet. The officer who is serviceable on this occasion 
may be sure of being remembered, and I will give you every 
chance in my power. Go, dress yourself in your best ; make 
yourself look as you know you can ; then be ready for boat 
service. I have some duty for you now, which will be but the 
beginning of good luck, if you only remain true to your mother, 
to Jane, and to yourself.” 

A new life was infused into Clinch. For years he had been 
overlooked — apparently forgotten, except when thorough sea- 
manship was required ; and even his experiment of getting 
transferred to a vessel commanded by an old messmate had 
seemingly failed. Here was a change, however, and a ray, 
brighter than common, shone athwart the darkness of his future. 
Even CufFe was struck with the cheerfulness of his countenance, 
and the alacrity of the master’s-mate’s movements, and he 
reproached himself with having so long been indifferent to the 
best interests of one who certainly had some claims on his 
friendship. Still, there was nothing unusual in the present rela- 
tions between these old messmates. Favored by family and 
friends, CufFe had never been permitted to fall into despondency, 
and had pursued his career successfully and with spirit ; while 
the other, unsupported, and failing of any immediate oppor- 
tunity for getting ahead, had fallen into evil ways, and come to 


WING-AND-WING, 


341 


be, by slow degrees, the man he was. Such instances as the 
latter are of not unfrequent occurrence even in a marine in 
which promotion is as regular as our own, though it is rare 
indeed that a man recovers his lost ground, when placed in cir- 
cumstances so trying. 

In half an hour Clinch was ready, dressed in his best. The 
gentlemen of the quarter-deck saw all these preparations with 
surprise ; for, of late, the master’s-mate had seldom been seen 
in that part of the ship at all. But, in a man-of-war, discipline 
is a matter of faith, and no one presumed to ask questions. 
Clinch was closeted with the Captain for a few minutes, received 
his orders, and went over the ship’s side with a cheerful coun- 
tenance, actually entering the Captain’s gig, the fastest rowing 
boat of the ship. As soon as seated, he shoved off, and held 
his way towards the point of Campanella, then distant about 
three leagues. No one knew whither he was bound, though all 
believed it was on duty that related to the lugger, and duty 
that required a seaman’s judgment. As for CufFe, his manner, 
which had begun to be uneasy and wandering, became more 
composed when he saw his old messmate fairly off, and that, 
too, at a rate which would carry him even to Naples in the 
course of a few hours, should his voyage happen to be so long. 


342 


WING-AND-WING. 


CHAPTER XXL 


“ His honor’s linked 
Unto his life ; he that will seek the one 
Must venture for the other, or lose both.” 

Tatham. 

It was now certain that le Feu-Follet was not in the Bay of 
Salerno. By means of the lofty spars of the ship, and the aid 
of glasses, the whole coast had been effectually surveyed, and 
no signs of such a craft were visible. Even Lyon had given 
it up, had wore round, and was standing along the land again, 
towards Campanella, a disappointed man. As Cuffe expected 
the next wind from the westward, he continued on to the north- 
ward, however, intending to go off Amalfi and question any 
fisherman he might fall in with. Leaving the ship slowly pur- 
suing her course in that direction, then, we will turn our atten- 
tion to the state of the prisoners. 

Ghita and her uncle had been properly cared for all this time. 
The gunner’s wife lived on board, and, being a respectable 
woman, Cuffe had the delicacy to send the poor girl forward to 
the state-room and mess of this woman. Her uncle was pro- 
vided for near by, and, as neither w T as considered in any degree 
criminal, it was the intention to put them ashore as soon as it 
was certain that no information concerning the lugger was to be 
obtained from them. Ithuel w T as at duty again, having passed 
half the morning in the fore-top. The shore-boat, which was 
in the way on deck, was now struck into the water, and was 
towing astern, in waiting for the moment when Carlo Giunto- 
tardi and his niece were to be put in possession of it again, and 
permitted to depart. This moment was delayed, however, until 
the ship should again double Campanella, and be once more in 
the Bay of Naples, as it would have been cruel to send two such 


WIN G-AND“ WING. 


343 


persons as the uncle and niece adrift at any material distance 
from their proper place of landing. 

It was very different with Raoul Yvard, however. He was 
under the charge of a sentry on the berth-deck, in waiting for 
the fearful moment when he should be brought forth for 
execution. His sentence was generally known in the ship, and 
with a few he was an object of interest ; though punishment, 
deaths in battle, and all the other casualties of nautical life, 
were much too familiar in such a war to awaken anything like 
a sensation in an active cruising frigate. Still, some had a 
thought for the prisoner’s situation. Winchester was a humane 
man, and, to his credit, he bore no malice for his own defeat 
and sufferings ; while in his capacity of first-lieutenant, it was 
in his power to do much towards adding to the comfort of the 
condemned. He had placed the prisoner between two open 
ports, where the air circulated freely, no trifling consideration 
in so warm a climate, and had ordered a canvas bulk-head to be 
placed around him, giving Raoul the benefit of a state-room for 
his meditations at so awful a moment. His irons, too, had 
been removed as useless ; though care had been had to take 
away from the prisoner everything by which he might attempt 
his own life. The probability of his jumping through a port 
had been discussed between the first and second lieutenants ; 
but the sentry was admonished to be on his guard against any 
such attempt, and little apprehension was felt, Raoul being so 
composed and so unlikely to do anything precipitately. Then 
it would be easy to pick him up, while the vessel moved so 
slowly. To own the truth, too, many would prefer his drowning 
himself, to seeing him swinging at a yard-arm. 

In this narrow prison, then, Raoul passed the night and morn- 
ing. It would be representing him as more stoical than the 
truth, if we said he was unmoved. So far from this, his moments 
were bitter, and his anguish would have been extreme, were it 
not for a high resolution which prompted him to die, as he 
fancied it, like un Frangais. The numerous executions by the 
guillotine had brought fortitude under such circumstances into 


344 


WING-AND-WING. 


a sort of fashion, and there were few who did not meet death 
with decorum. With our prisoner, however, it was still different ; 
for, sustained by a dauntless spirit, he would have faced the 
great tyrant of the race, even in his most ruthless mood, with 
firmness, if not with disdain. But, to a young man and a lover, 
the last great change could not well approach without bringing 
with it a feeling of hopelessness, that, in the case of Raoul, was 
unrelieved by any cheering expectations of the future. He fully 
believed his doom to be sealed, and that, less on account of his 
imaginary offence as a spy, than on account of the known and 
extensive injuries he had done to the English commerce. Raoul 
was a good hater ; and, according to the fashion of past times, 
w r hich we apprehend, in spite of a vast deal of equivocal philan- 
thropy that now circulates freely from mouth to mouth, and 
from pen to pen, will continue to be the fashion of times to 
come, he heartily disliked the people with whom he was at war, 
and consequently, was ready to believe anything to their preju- 
dice that political rivalry might invent ; a frame of mind that 
led him to think his life would be Hewed as a trifle, when put 
in the scales against English ascendency or English profit. He 
was accustomed to think of the people of Great Britain as a 
“ nation of shopkeepers,” and, while engaged himself in a calling 
that bears the brand of rapacity on its very brow, he looked 
upon his own pursuit as comparatively martial and honorable ; 
qualities, in sooth, it was far from being without, as he himself 
had exercised its functions. In a word, Raoul understood Cuffe, 
as little as Cuffe understood him ; facts that will sufficiently 
appear in the interview which it has now become our office to 
relate. 

The prisoner received one or two friendly visits in the course 
of the morning ; Griffin, in particular, conceiving it to be his 
duty to try to cheer the condemned man, on account of his own 
knowledge of foreign tongues. On these occasions the conver- 
sation was prevented from falling into anything like the sombre, 
by the firmness of the prisoner’s manner. With a view to do 
the thing handsomely, Winchester had caused the canvas bulk- 


¥ I N G “ A N D - W I N G . 


345 


head to include the guns on each side, which of course gave 
more air and light within the narrow apartment, as it brought 
both ports into the little room. Raoul adverted to this, circum- 
stance, as, seated on one stool, he invited Griffin, in the last of 
his visits, to take another. 

“ You find me here, supported by a piece of eighteen on each 
side,” observed the prisoner, smiling, “ as becomes a seaman who 
is about to die. Were my death to come from the mouths of 
your cannon, Monsieur Lieutenant, it would only meet me a 
few months, or perhaps a few days sooner than it might happen 
by the same mode in the ordinary course of events.” 

“ We know how to feel for a brave man in your situation,” 
answered Griffin, with emotion ; “ and nothing would make us all 
happier than to have it as you say ; you in a good warm frigate, 
on our broadside, and we in this of our own, contending fairly 
for the honor of our respective countries.” 

“ Monsieur, the fortune of war has ordered it otherwise — but, 
you are not seated, Monsieur Lieutenant.” 

“ Mon pardon — Captain Cuffe has sent me to request you 
will favor him with your company, in his cabin, as soon as it 
may be agreeable to yourself, Monsieur Yvard.” 

There is something in the polished expressions of the French 
language, that would have rendered it difficult for Griffin to 
have been other than delicate in his communications with the 
prisoner, had he been so disposed ; but such was not his incli- 
nation ; for, now that their gallant adversary was at their mercy, 
all the brave men in the Proserpine felt a disposition to deal 
tenderly with him. Raoul was touched with these indications 
of generosity, and, as he had witnessed Griffin’s spirit in the 
different attempts made on his lugger, it inclined him to think 
better of his foes. Rising, he professed his readiness to attend 
the captain at that very moment. 

Cuffe was waiting in the after-cabin. When Griffin and the 
prisoner entered, he courteously requested both to be seated, the 
former being invited to remain, not only as a witness of what 
might occur, but to act as interpreter in case of need. A short 

15 * 

9 


346 


WING-AND-WING. 


pause succeeded, and then the captain opened the dialogue, 
which was carried on in English, with occasional assistance from 
Griffin, whenever it became necessary. 

“ I greatly regret, Monsieur Yvard, to see a brave man in 
your situation,” commenced Cuffe, who, sooth to say, apart from 
the particular object he had in view, uttered no more than the 
truth. “ We have done full justice to your spirit and judgment, 
while we have tried the hardest to get you into our power. But 
the laws of war are severe, necessarily, and we English have a 
commander-in-chief who is not disposed to trifle in matters of 
duty.” 

This was said, partly in policy, and partly from a habit of 
standing in awe of the character of Nelson. Raoul received it, 
however, in the most favorable light ; though the politic portion 
of the motive was altogether thrown away, as will be seen in the 
sequel. 

“ Monsieur, un Frangais knows how to die in the cause of 
liberty and his country,” answered Raoul, courteously, yet with 
emphasis. 

“ I do not doubt it, Monsieur ; still, I see no necessity of 
pushing things to that extremity. England is as liberal of her 
rewards as she is powerful to resent injuries. Perhaps some 
plan may be adopted which will avert the necessity of sacrificing 
the life of a brave man in so cruel a mode.” 

“ I shall not affect to play the hero, Monsieur le Capitaine. 
If any proper mode of relieving me, in my present crisis, can 
be discovered, my gratitude will be in proportion to the service 
rendered.” 

“ This is talking sensibly, and to the purpose : I make no 
doubt, when we come to a right understanding, everything will 
be amicably arranged between us. Griffin, do me the favor to 
help yourself to a glass of wine and water, which you will find 
refreshing, this warm day. Monsieur Yvard will join us ; the 
wine coming from Capri, and being far from bad ; though some 
do prefer the Lachrymae Christi that grows about the foot of 
Vesuvius, I believe.” 


WING-AND- WING. 


347 


Griffin did as desired, though his own countenance was far 
from expressing all the satisfaction that was obvious in the face 
of Cuffe. Raoul declined the offer ; waiting for the forthcoming 
explanation with an interest he did not affect to conceal. Cuffe 
seemed disappointed and reluctant to proceed ; but, finding his 
two companions silent, he was obliged to make his proposal. 

“ Oui, Monsieur,” he added, “ England is powerful to resent, 
but ready to forgive. You are very fortunate in having it in 
your power, at so serious a moment, to secure her pardon for an 
offence that is always visited in war with a punishment graver 
than any other.” 

“ In what way can this be done, Monsieur le Capitaine ? I 
am not one who despises life ; more especially when it is in 
danger of being lost by a disgraceful death.” 

“ I am rejoiced, Monsieur Yvard, to find you in this frame of 
mind ; it vail relieve me from the discharge of a most painful 
duty, and be the means of smoothing over many difficulties. 
Without doubt, you have heard of the character of our celebrated 
admiral Nelson ?” 

“ His name is known to every seaman, Monsieur,” answered 
Raoul, stiffly ; his natural antipathies being far from cured by 
the extremity of his situation. “ He has written it on the waters 
of the Nile, in letters of blood !” 

V Aye, his deeds, there , or elsewhere, will not soon be forgotten. 
He is a man of an iron will ; when his heart is set on a thing, 
he sticks at no risk to obtain it, especially if the means be lawful, 
and the end is glory. To be frank, Monsieur, he wishes much 
for your lugger, the le Few-Folly.” 

“ Ah !” exclaimed Raoul, smiling ironically — “ Nelson is not 
the only English admiral who has had the same desire. Le 
Feu-Follet, Monsieur le Capitaine, is so charming, that she has 
many admirers !” 

“ Am on whom Nelson is one of the warmest. Now, this 
makes your case so much the easier to be disposed of. You 
have nothing to do but put the lugger into our hands, when you 
will be pardoned, and be treated as a prisoner of war.” 


348 


WING-AND-WING. 


u Does Monsieur Nelson authorize you to make this proposal 
to me ?” asked Raoul gravely. 

“ He does. Intrusted with the care of his country’s interests 
he is willing to overlook the offence against her, under the law 
of nations, to deprive the enemy of doing so much harm. 
Put the lugger into our hands, and you shall be sent to an ordi- 
nary prison ship. Nay, merely let us into the secret of her 
position, and we will see to her capture.” 

u Monsieur Nelson doubtless does no more than his duty,” 
answered Raoul, quietly, but with an air of severe self-respect. 
“ It is his business to have a care for English commerce, and he 
has every right to make this bargain. But the treaty will not 
be conducted on equal terms ; while he is doing no more than 
his duty, I have no powers.” 

“ How ? — You have the power of speech ; that will suffice to 
let us into the secret of the orders you have given the lugger, 
and where she is probably to be found at this moment.” 

“Non, Monsieur ; I have not even that in my power. I can 
do nothing that must cover me with so much infamy. My 
tongue is under laws that I never made, when treachery is in 
question.” 

Had Raoul assumed a theatrical tone and manner, as might 
have been expected, probably it would have made very little 
impression on Cuffe ; but his quiet simplicity and steadiness 
carried conviction with them. To say the truth, the captain 
was disappointed. He would have hesitated about making his 
proposition to an officer of the regular French marine, low as 
even these stood, at that day, in the estimation of Nelson’s fleet 
in particular ; but from a privateersman he expected a greedy 
acquiescence in a plan that offered life as a reward, in exchange 
for a treachery like that he proposed. At first he felt disposed 
to taunt Raoul with the contradiction between what he, Cuffe, 
conceived to be his general pursuits, and his present assumption 
of principles ; but the unpretending calmness of the other’s 
manner, and the truth of his feelings, prevented it. Then, to 


WING-AND-WING. 


349 


do Cuffe himself justice, he was too generous to abuse the power 
he had over his prisoner. 

u You may do well to think of this, Monsieur Yvard” — 
observed the captain, after a pause of quite a minute. “ The in- 
terest at stake is so heavy, that reflection may yet induce you to 
change your mind.” 

“Monsieur Cuffe, I pardon you, if you can pardon yourself,” 
answered Raoul, with severe dignity in his manner, rising as he 
spoke, as if disdaining civilities which came from his tempter. 
“ I know what you think of us corsairs — but an officer in an 
honorable service should hesitate long before he tempts a 
man to do an act like this. The fact that the life of your 
prisoner is at stake, ought to make a brave seaman still more 
delicate how he tries to work on his terrors or his principles. 
But, I repeat, I forgive you, Monsieur, if you can forgive yourself.” 

Cuffe stood confounded. The blood rushed to his heart; 
after which, it appeared as if about to gush through the pores 
of his face. A feeling of fierce resentment almost consumed 
him ; then he became himself again, and began to see things 
as was his wont in cooler moments. Still he could not speak, 
pacing the cabin to recover his self-command. 

“ Monsieur Yvard,” he at length said, “I ask your forgiveness 
sincerely, and from the bottom of my heart. I did not know 
you, or such a proposal would never have insulted you, or dis- 
graced a British officer, in my person. Nelson, too, is the last 
man living, to wound the feelings of an honorable enemy ; but 
we did not know you. All privateersmen are not of your way 
of thinking, and it was there we fell into our mistake.” 

“ Touchez-la” said Raoul, frankly extending his hand. 
“ Monsieur le Capitaine, you and I ought to meet in two fine 
frigates, each for his country’s honor ; let what would be the 
result, it would lay the foundations of an eternal friendship. I 
have lived long enough in votre Angleterre , to understand how 
little you know notre France ; mais Fimporte . Brave men 
can understand one another, all over the world ; for the little 
time which is left me, we shall be friends.” 


350 


WING-AND-WING. 


Cuffe seized Raoul’s hand, and even a tear escaped him, as 
he squeezed it warmly. 

“ This has been a d — d miserable business, Griffin,” said the 
captain, as soon as he could speak without betraying weakness, 
“ and one no man will ever find me employed in again, though 
a fleet as large as that up in the Bay yonder were the price.” 

“ I never thought it would succeed, sir ; and, to say the truth, 
I never hoped it would. You’ll excuse me, Captain Cuffe, but 
we English don’t give the continentals exactly the credit they 
deserve ; and particularly the French. I thought it wouldn’t 
do, from the first.” 

Cuffe now repeated his apologies ; and after a few expressions 
of friendly esteem on both sides, Raoul returned to his little 
room, declining the captain’s offer to occupy one of the cabin 
state-rooms. Griffin was soon back again ; then the conversation 
was resumed between the two officers. 

“ This is altogether a most painful business, Griffin,” observed 
Cuffe. “There is no doubt that Monsieur Yvard is technically 
a spy, and guilty, according to the forms of law ; but I entertain 
not the smallest doubt of the truth of his whole story. This 
Ghita Caraccioli, as the girl calls herself, is the very picture of 
truth ; and w^as actually in Nelson’s cabin the day before yester- 
day, under circumstances that leave no doubt of the simplicity 
and truth of her character, while every part of the tale corre- 
sponds with the other. Even the veechy, and this pursy old 
podesta, confirm the account ; for they have seen Ghita in Por- 
to Ferrajo, and begin to think the Frenchman came in there 
solely on her account.” 

“ I make no doubt, Captain Cuffe, that Lord Nelson will give 
a respite, or even a pardon, were the facts fairly laid before 
him,” observed Griffin, who felt a generous interest in preserv- 
ing the life of Raoul, the very man he had endeavored to 
destroy by fire only a few w r eeks before ; but such is the way- 
wardness of man, and such are the mixed feelings generated by 
war. 

“ This is the most serious part of the affair, Griffin. The 


WIN G-AND-WING. 


351 


sentence is approved ; with an order that it shall he carried into 
effect this very day, between the hours of sunrise and sunset; 
while here it is already noon, and we are to the southward of 
Campanella, and so distant from the flag-ship as to put signals 
out of the question.” 

Griflin started ; all the grave difficulties of the case glancing 
upon his mind in a moment. An order, according to the habits 
of the service, and more especially an order of this serious 
character, was not to be questioned ; yet here was a dilemma in 
which there appeared no means of relief. 

“ Good God, Captain Cuffe, how unlucky ! Cannot an 
express be sent across by land, so as yet to reach the flag-ship 
in time V 9 

“ I have thought of that, Griffin, and Clinch has gone pre- 
cisely on that errand.” 

“ Clinch! — Pardon me, sir; but such a duty requires a veiy 
active and sober officer !” 

“ Clinch is active enough, and I know his besetting weakness 
will have no power over him to-day. I have opened the way 
for a commission to him, and no one in the ship can go to 
Naples in a boat sooner than Clinch, if he really try. He will 
make the most of the afternoon’s breeze, should there be any, 
and I have arranged a signal with him, by which he may let us 
know the result even at the distance of eight or ten miles.” 

“ Has Lord Nelson left no discretion in the orders, sir ?” 

“ None ; unless Raoul Yvard distinctly consent to give up 
the lugger. In that case, I have a letter, which authorizes me 
to delay the execution, until I can communicate directly with 
the commander-in-chief.” 

“ How very unlucky it has been, all round ! Is there no 
possibility, sir, of making up a case that might render this dis- 
cretion available V 9 

“That might do among you irresponsibles, Mr. Griffin,” 
answered Cuffe, a little sharply; “but I would rather hang 
forty Frenchmen than be Bronted by Nelson for neglect of 
duty.” 


352 


WING-AND-WING. 


Cuffe spoke more strongly than he intended, perhaps ; but 
the commander of a ship-of-war does not always stop to weigh 
his words, when he condescends to discuss a point with an 
inferior. The reply put a check upon Griffin’s zeal, however, 
though the discourse did not the less proceed. 

“ Well, sir,” the lieutenant answered, “ I’m sure we are all as 
anxious as you can* be, to avert this affair from our ship. 
’T was but The other day we were boasting in the gun-room, to 
some of the Lapwing’s officers that were on a visit here, that 
the Proserpine never had an execution or a court-martial flog- * 
ging on board her, though she had now been under the British 
ensign near four years, and had been seven times under fire !” 
u God send, Griffin, that Clinch find the admiral, and get 
back in time !” 

“ How would it do, sir, to send the vice-governatore to try the 
prisoner ; perhaps lie might persuade him to seem to consent — 
or some such thing, you know, sir, as might justify a delay. 
They say the Corsicans are the keenest-witted fellows in 
all these seas ; and Elba is so near to Corsica, that one cannot 
fancy there is much difference between their people.” 

“ Aye, your veechy is a regular witch ! — He made out so 
well in his first interview with Yvard, that no one can doubt his 
ability to overlay him in another !” 

“ One never knows, Captain Cuffe. The Italian has more 
resources than most men ; and the Signor Barrofaldi is a dis- 
creet, sensible man, when he acts with his eyes open. Le Feu- 
Follet has cheated others besides the vice-governatore and the 
podesta.” 

“ Aye, these d d Jack-o’-Lanterns are never to be trusted. 

It would hardly surprise me to see the Folly coming down 
wing-and-wing from under the land, and passing out to sea, with 
a six-knot breeze, while we lay as still as a cathedral, with not 
air enough to turn the smoke of the galley-fire from the perpen- 
dicular.” 

“ She’s not inside of us, Captain Cuffe ; of that we may be 
certain. I have been on the main-top-gallant yard, with the 


WING-AND-WING. 


353 


best glass in the ship, and have swept the w T hole coast, from the 
ruins over against us, here to the eastward, up to the town of 
Salerno ; there is nothing to be seen as large as a sparanara.” 

“ One would think, too, this Monsieur Yvard might give uj), 
to save his own life, after all !” 

“ We should hardly do it, I hope, Captain Cuffe ?” 

“ I believe you are right, Griffin ; one feels forced to respect 
the privateersman, in spite of his trade. AYho knows but some- 
thing might be got out of that Bolt ? He must know as much 
about the lugger as Yvard himself ?” 

“ Quite true, sir ; I was thinking of proposing something of 
the sort, not a minute since. Now, that’s a fellow one may take 
pleasure in riding down, as one would ride down the main tack. 
Shall I have him sent for, Captain Cuffe ?” 

The captain hesitated ; for the previous experiments on 
Ithuel’s selfishness had failed. Still the preservation of Raoul’s 
life, and the capture of the lugger, were now objects of nearly 
equal interest with Cuffe, and he felt disposed to neglect no 
plausible means of effecting either. A sign of approbation was 
all the lieutenant needed ; and, in a few minutes, Ithuel stood 
again in the presence of his captain. 

“ Here is an opportunity for you to fetch up a good deal of 
lee-way, Master Bolt,” commenced the captain : “ and I am will- 
ing to give you a chance to help yourself. You know where 
you last left the Few-Folly, I suppose ?” 

u I don’t know but I might, sir,” answered Ithuel, rolling his 
eyes around him, curious to ascertain what the other would be 
at. “ I don’t know but I might remember, on a pinch, sir ; 
though, to own the truth, my memory is none of the most des- 
perate best.” 

“ Well, then, where was it ? Recollect that the life of your 
late friend, Raoul Yvard, may depend on your answer.” 

“ I want to know ! — Well, this Europe is a curious part of 
the world, as all must admit that come from Ameriky. What 
has Captain Rule done now, sir, that he stands in such jeopardy \ n 
“ You know that he is convicted as a spy ; and my orders 


354 


WING-AND-WING. 


are to have him executed, unless we can get his lugger. Then , 
indeed, we may possibly show him a little favor ; as we do not 
make war so much on individuals as on nations.” 

Cuffe would probably have been puzzled to explain the appli- 
cation of his own sentiment to the case before him ; but, 
presuming on his having to deal with one who was neither 
very philosophical nor logical himself, he was somewhat indif- 
ferent to his own mode of proceeding, so that it effected the 
object. Itliuel, however, was not understood. Love for Raoul 
or the lugger, or, indeed, for anything else, himself excepted, 
formed no part of his character ; while hatred of England had 
got to be incorporated with the whole of his moral system ; if 
such a man could be said to have a moral system at all. He 
saw nothing to be gained by serving Raoul, in particular ; 
though this he might have done did nothing interfere to pre- 
vent it ; while he had so strong an aversion to suffering the 
English to get le Feu-Follet, as to be willing even to risk his 
own life to prevent it. His care, therefore, was to accomplish 
his purpose with the least hazard to himself. 

“ And, if the lugger can be had, sir, you intend to let Cap- 
tain Rule go ?” he asked, with an air of interest. 

“ Aye, we may do that ; though it will depend on the admi- 
ral. Can you tell us where you left her, and where she probably 
now is ?” 

“ Captain Rule has said the first already, sir. He told the 
truth about that before the court. But, as to telling where the 
lugger is now, I’ll defy any man to do it ! Why, sir, I’ve 
turned in at eight bells, and left her, say ten or fifteen leagues 
dead to leeward of an island or a light-house, perhaps ; and on 
turning out at eight bells in the morning, found her just as far 
to windward of the same object. She’s as oncalculating a craft 
as I ever put foot aboard of.” 

“ Indeed !” said Cuffe, ironically ; “ I do not wonder that her 
captain’s in a scrape.” 

“ Scrape, sir ! — The Folly is nothing but a scrape. I’ve tried 
my hand at keeping her reck’nin’.” 


WING-AND-WING. 


355 


“ You !” 

“ Yes, sir, I ; Ithuel Bolt, that’s my name at hum’ or abroad, 
and I’ve tried to keep the Folly’s reck’nin’, with all the advan- 
tage of thermometer, and lead-lines, and logarithms, and such 
necessaries, you know, Captain Cuffe ; and I never yet could 
place her within a hundred miles of the spot where she was 
actually seen to be.” 

“ I am not at all surprised to hear this, Bolt ; but what I 
want at present, is to know what you think may be the precise 
position of the lugger, without the aid of the thermometer, and 
of logarithms ; I’ve a notion you would make out better by 
letting such things alone ?” 

“ Well, who knows but I might, sir ! My idee of the Folly, 
just now, sir, is that she is somewhere off Capri, under short 
canvas, waiting for Captain Rule and I to join her, and keeping 
a sharp look-out after the inimies’ cruisers.” 

Now, this was not only precisely the position of the lugger at 
that very moment, but it was what Ithuel actually believed to 
be her position. Still nothing was further from this man’s 
intention than to betray his former messmates. He was so very 
cunning as to have detected how little Cuffe was disposed to 
believe him ; and he told the truth as the most certain means 
of averting mischief from the lugger. Nor did his ruse fail of 
its object. His whole manner had so much deceit and low 
cunning about it, that neither Cuffe nor Griffin believed a word 
he said ; and after a little more pumping, the fellow was 
dismissed in disgust, with a sharp intimation that it would be 
singularly for his interest to look out how he discharged his 
general duties in the ship. 

“ This will never do, Griffin,” exclaimed the captain, vexed 
and disappointed. “ Should anything occur to Clinch, or 
should the admiral happen to be off with the king, on one of 
his shooting excursions, we shall be in a most serious dilemma. 
Would to God we had not left the anchorage at Capri ! Then 
one might communicate with the flag with some certainty. I 
shall never forgive myself, if anything fatal actually take place !” 


356 


W I N G - AN D - W I N G . 


“ When one does all for the best, Captain Cuffe, his mind 
ought to be at ease, and you could not possibly foresee what has 
happened. Might not — one wouldn’t like either — but — neces- 
sity is a hard master — ” 

“ Out with it, Griffin — anything is better than suspense.” 
-“Well, sir, I was just thinking that possibly this young 
Italian girl might know something about the lugger, and, as 
she clearly loves the Frenchman, we should get a strong purchase 
on her tongue by means of her heart.” 

Cuffe looked intently at his lieutenant for half a minute ; 
then he shook his head in disapprobation. 

“ No, Griffin, no,” he said, “ to this I never can consent. As 
for this quibbling, equivocating Yankee, if Yankee he be, one 
wouldn’t feel many scruples of delicacy ; but to probe the affec- 
tions of a poor, innocent girl, in this way, would be going too 
far. The heart of a young girl should be sacred, under every 
circumstance.” 

Griffin colored, and he bit his lip. No one likes to be outdone, 
in the appearance of generosity, at least ; and he felt vexed that 
he should have ventured on a proposition that his superior 
treated as unbecoming. 

“Nevertheless, sir, she might think the lugger cheaply sold,” 
he said, with emphasis, “ provided her lover’s life was what she 
got in exchange. It would be a very different thing were we 
to ask her to sell her admirer, instead of a mere privateer.” 

“No matter, Griffin. We will not meddle with the private 
feelings of a young female, that • chance has thrown into our 
hands. As soon as we get near enough in with the land, I 
intend to let the old man take his boat, and carry his niece 
ashore. That will be getting rid of them , at least, honorably 
and fairly. God knows what is to become of the Frenchman.” 
This terminated the conference. Griffin went on deck, wffiere 
duty now called him ; and Cuffe sat down to re-peruse, for the 
ninth or tenth time, the instructions of the admiral. 


WIN6-AND-WING. 


357 


CHAPTER XXII. 


“ I have no dread, 

And feel the curse to have no natural fear, 

Nor fluttering throb, that beats with hopes or wishes, 

Or lurking love of something on the earth.” 

Manfred. 


By this time the day had materially advanced, and there 
were grave grounds for the uneasiness which Cuffe began so 
seriously to feel. All three of the ships were still in the Bay of 
Salerno, gathering in towards its northern shore, however ; the 
Proserpine, the deepest embayed, the Terpsichore, and the 
Ringdove, having hauled out towards Campanella, as soon as 
satisfied nothing was to be seen in-sliore of them. The heights 
which line the coast, from the immediate vicinity of the town of 
Salerno, to the headland that ends near Capri, have long been 
celebrated, not only for their beauty and grandeur, but in 
connexion with the lore of the middle ages. As the Proserpine 
had never been in this bay before, or never so near its head, 
her officer found some temporary relief from the very general 
uneasiness that was felt oh account of their prisoner, in viewing 
scenery that is remarkable even in that remarkable section of 
the globe. The ship had gone up abreast of Amalfi, and so 
close in, as to be less than a mile from the shore. The object 
was to communicate with some fishermen, which had been done ; 
the information received going to establish the fact, that no craft 
resembling the lugger had been in that part of the Bay. The 
vessel’s head was now laid to the southward and westward, in 
waiting for the zephyr, which might soon be expected. The 
gallant frigate, seen from the impending rocks, looked like a 
light merchantman, in all but her symmetry and warlike guise ; 


358 


WING-AND-WING. 


nature being moulded on so grand a scale all along that coast, 

as to render objects of human art unusually diminutive to the 

\ 

eye. On the other hand, the country-houses, churches, hermit- 
ages, convents, and villages, clustered all along the mountain 
sides, presented equally delusive forms, though they gave an 
affluence to the views, that left the spectator in a strange doubt, 
which most to admire, their wildness, or their picturesque beauty. 
The little air that remained, was still at the southward, and as 
the ship moved slowly along this scene of singular attraction, 
each ravine seemed to give up a town, each shelf of rock, 
a human habitation, and each natural terrace, a villa and a 
garden. 

Of all men, sailors get to be the most blazes in the way of 
the sensations produced by novelties, and fine scenery. It 
appears to be a part of their calling to suppress the emotions 
of a greenhorn ; and, generally, they look upon anything that 
is a little out of the ordinary track, with the coolness of those 
who feel it is an admission of inferiority to betray surprise. It 
seldom happens with them, that anything occurs, or anything is 
seen, to which the last cruise, or, if the vessel be engaged in 
trade, the last voyage, did not at least furnish a parallel ; usually 
the past event, or the more distant object, has the advantage. 
He who has a sufficient store of this reserved knowledge and 
experience, it will at once be seen, enjoys a great superiority 
over him who has not, and is placed above the necessity of 
avowing a sensation as humiliating as wonder. On the present 
occasion, however, but few held out against the novelty of the 
actual situation of the ship ; most on board being willing enough 
to allow that they had never before been beneath cliffs that had 
such a union of the magnificent, the picturesque, and the soft ; 
though a few continued firm, acting up to the old characters, 
with the consistency of settled obstinacy. 

Strand, the boatswain, was one of those who, on all such 
occasions, “ died hard.” He was the last man in the ship who 
ever gave up a prejudice ; and this for three several reasons : 
he was a cockney, and believed himself born in the centre of 


WING-AND-WING. 


359 


human knowledge ; he was a seaman, and understood the world ; 
he was a boatswain, and stood upon his dignity. 

As the Proserpine fanned slowly along the land, this personage 
took a position between the knight-heads, on the bowsprit, where 
he could overlook the scene, and at the same time hear the 
dialogue of the forecastle ; and both with suitable decorum. 
Strand was as much of a monarch forward, as Cuffe was aft ; 
though the appearance of a lieutenant, or of the master, now 
and then, a little dimmed the lustre of his reign. Still, Strand 
succumbed completely to only tw r o of the officers — the captain 
and the first lieutenant ; and not always to these, in what he 
conceived to be purely matters of sentiment. In the way of 
duty, he understood himself too w r ell ever to hesitate about 
obeying an order ; but when it came to opinions, he was a man 
who could maintain his own, even in the presence of Nelson. 

The first captain of the forecastle was an old seaman of the 
name of Catfall. At the precise moment when Strand occupied 
the position named, between the knight-heads, this personage 
was holding a discourse with three or four of the forecastle-men, 
who stood on the heel of the bowsprit, inboard — the etiquette 
of the ship not permitting these worthies to show their heads 
above the nettings. Each of the party had his arms folded ; 
each chewed tobacco ; each had his hair in a queue ; and each 
occasionally hitched up his trow r sers, in a way to prove that he 
did not require the aid of suspenders in keeping his nether 
garments in their proper place. It may be mentioned, indeed, 
that the point of division between the jacket and the trowsers 
was marked in each by a bellying line of a clean white shirt, 
that served to relieve the blue of the dress, as a species of marine 
facing. As w r as due to his greater experience and his rank, 
Catfall was the principal speaker among those who lined the 
heel of the bowsprit. 

“ This here coast is mountamious, as one may own,” observed 
the captain of the forecastle ; u but what I say is, that it’s not as 
mountamious as some I’ve seen. Now, when I went round the 
’arth with Captain Cook, we fell in with islands that were so 


360 


WING- AND-WING. 


topped off with rocks, and the like o’ that, that these here affairs 
along side on ’em wouldn’t pass for anything more than a sort 
of jury mountains.” 

“ There you’re right, Catfall,” said Strand, in a patronizing 
way ; “ as anybody know T s as has been round the Horn. I 
didn’t sail with Captain Cook, seeing that I was then the boat- 
swain of the Hussar, and she couldn’t have made one of Cook’s 
squadron, being a post-ship, and commanded by a full-built 
captain ; but I was in them seas when a younker, and can back 
Catfall’s account of the matter by my largest anchor, in the way 

of history. I) -e, if I think these hillocks would be called 

even jury mountains, in that quarter of the world. They tell 
me there’s several noblemen’s and gentlemen’s parks near 
Lunnun, where they make mountains just to look at ; that must 
be much of a muchness with these here chaps. I never drift far 
from Wappin’, when I’m at home, and so I can’t say I’ve seen 
these artifice hills, as they calls them, myself ; but there’s one 
Joseph Shirk, that lives near St. Katharine’s Lane, that makes 
trips regularly into the neighborhood, who gives quite a particu- 
lar account of the matter.” 

“ I dare to say it’s all true, Mr. Strand,” answered the captain 
of the forecastle, “ for I’ve know’d some of them travelling chaps 
who have seen stranger sights than that. No, sir, I calls these 
mountains no great matter ; and as to the houses and villages 
on ’em, where you see one here, you might say you could see 
two on some of the desert islands — ” 

A very marvellous account of Cook’s Discoveries was suddenly 
checked by the appearance of Cuffe on the forecastle. It was 
not often the captain visited that part of the ship ; but he was 
considered a privileged person, let him go where he would. At 
his appearance, all the “ old salts” quitted the heel of the spar, 
tarpaulins came fairly down to a level with the bag-reefs of the 
shirts, and even Strand stepped into the nettings, leaving the 
place between the knight-heads clear. To this spot Cuffe 
ascended with a light, steady step, for he was but six-and- 
twenty, just touching his hat in return to the boatswain’s bow\ 


WING-AND-WXNG. 


361 


A boatswain, on board an English ship-of-war, is a more 
important personage than he is apt to be on board an American. 
Neither the captain nor the first lieutenant disdains conversing 
with him, on occasions ; and he is sometimes seen promenading 
the starboard side of the quarter-deck in deep discourse with 
one or the other of those high functionaries. It has been said 
that Cuffe and Strand were old shipmates, the latter having 
actually been boatswain of the ship in which the former first 
sailed. This circumstance was constantly borne in mind by 
both parties, the captain seldom coming near his inferior, in 
moments of relaxation, without having something to say to him. 

“ Rather a remarkable coast this, Strand,” he commenced, on 
the present occasion, as soon as fairly placed between the knight- 
heads ; “ something one might look for a week, in England, 
without finding it.” 

“ I beg your pardon, sir, but Em not of the same way of 
thinking. I was just telling the forecastle lads, down there, 
that there’s many a nobleman and gentleman at home as has 
finer hills than these, made by hand, in his parks and gardens, 
just to look at.” 

“ The d 1 you have ! — And what did the forecastle lads 

down there say to that ?” 

“ What could they, sir ? It just showed the superiority of an 
Englishman to an Italian, and that ended the matter. Don’t 
you remember the Injees, sir ?” 

“ The Indies ! Why, the coast between Bombay and Cal- 
cutta is as flat as a pancake most of the distance.” 

“ Not them Injees, sir, but t’other — the West, I mean. The 
islands and mountains we passed and went into in the Rattler ; 
your honor was only a young gentleman then, but was too 
much aloft to miss the sight of anything — and all along 
America, too.” 

As Strand was speaking he glanced complacently round, 
as if to intimate to the listeners what an old friend of the 
captain’s they enjoyed in the person of their boatswain. 

“ Oh ! the West Indies — yourhe nearer light there, Strand ; 

16 


362 


WING-AND-WING. 


and yet they have nothing to compare to this. Why, here are 
mountains, alive with habitations, that fairly come up to the 
sea !” 

“ Well, sir, as to habitations, what’s these to a street in 
Lunnun ? Begin on the starboard hand, for instance, as you 
walk down Cheapside, and count as you go ; my life for it, 
you’ll reel off more houses in half an hour’s walk than are to be 
found in all that there village yonder. Then you'll remember, 
sir, that the starboard hand only has half, every Jack having his 
Jenny. I look upon Lunnun as the finest sight in nature, 
^ Captain Cuffe, after all I have seen in many cruises !” 

“ I don’t know, Mr. Strand. In the way of coast, one may 
very well be satisfied with this. Yonder town, now, is called 
Amalfi ; it was once a place of great commerce, they say.” 

“ Of commerce, sir ! — why it’s nothing but a bit of a village, 
or, at most, of a borough built in a hollow. No haven, no 
docks, no comfortable place even for setting up the frame of a 
ship on the beach. The commerce of such a town must have 
been mainly carried on by means of mules and jackasses, as one 
reads of in the trade of the Bible.” 

“ Carried on as it might be, trade it once had. There does 
* .. 

not seem to be any hiding-place along this shore for a lugger 
like the Folly, after all, Strand.” 

The boatswain smiled, with a knowing look, while, at the 
same time, the expression of his countenance was like that of a 
man who did not choose to let others into all his secrets. 

“ The Folly is a craft we are not likely to see again, Captain 
Cuffe,” he then answered, if it were only out of respect to his 
superior. 

“ Why so ? The Proserpine generally takes a good look at 
everything she chases.” 

“ Aye, aye, sir ; that may be true, as a rule, but I never 
knew a craft found after a third look for her. Everything seems 
to go by thirds, in this world, sir ; and I always look upon a 
third chase as final. Now, sir, there are three classes of 
admirals, and three sets of flags ; a ship has three masts ; the 


WING-AND-WING. 


363 


biggest ships are three deckers ; then there are three pla- 
nets — ” 

“ The d — 1 there are ! How do you make that out, Strand ?” 

“ Why, sir, there’s the sun, moon, and stars ; that makes just 
three by my count.” 

“ Aye, but what do you say to Jupiter, Saturn, Venus, and 
all the rest of them, the earth included ?” 

“ Why, sir, they’re all the rest of the stars, and not planets 
at all. Then, sir, look around you, and you’ll find everything 
going by threes. There are three topsails, three jibs, and three 
top-gallant sails — ” 

u And two courses,” said the captain, gravely, to whom this 
theory of the threes was new. 

“ Quite true, sir, in name, but your honor will recollect the 
spanker is nothing but a fore-and-aft course, rigged to a mast, 
instead of to a jack-yard, as it used to be.” 

“ There are neither three captains nor three boatswains to a 
ship, Master Strand.” 

“ Certainly not, sir ; that would be oppressive, and they 
would stand in each other’s way ; still, Captain Cuffe, the 
thirds hold out wonderfully, even in all these little matters. 
There’s the three lieutenants ; and there’s the boatswain, gunner, 
and carpenter — and — ” 

w Sail-maker, armorer, and captain of the mast,” interrupted 
Cuffe, laughing. 

“ Well, sir, you may make anything seem doubtful, by 
bringing forward a plenty of reasons ; but all my experience says, 
a third chase never comes to anything, unless it turns out success- 
ful; but that after a third chase, all may as well be given up.” 

“I fancy Lord Nelson holds a different doctrine, Strand. lie 
tells us to follow a Frenchman round the earth, rather than let 
him escape.” 

u No doubt, sir. Follow him round three earths, if you can 
keep him in sight; but not round four. That is all I contend 
for, Capta : n Cuffe. Even women, they tell me, take what is 
called their thirds, in a fellow’s fortin’.” 


364 


WING-AND-WING. 


“Well, well, Strand, I suppose there must be some truth in 
your doctrine, or you wouldn’t hold out for it so strenuously ; 
and, as for this coast, I must give it up, for I never expect to see 
another like it ; much less a third.” 

“ It’s my duty to give up to your honor ; but I ask permission 
to think a third chase should always be the last one. That’s a 
melancholy sight to a man of feelin’, Captain Cuffe, the object 
between the two midship-guns, on the starboard side of the 
main-deck, sir?” 

“You mean the prisoner ? — I wish with all my heart he was 
not there, Strand. I think I would rather he were in his lugger 
again, to run the chances of that fourth chase of which you 
seem to think so lightly.” 

“Your hanging ships are not often lucky ships, Captain 
Cuffe. In my judgment, asking your pardon, sir, there ought 
to be a floating jail in every fleet, where all the courts and all 
the executions should be held.” 

“ It would be robbing the boatswains of no small part of their 
duty, were the punishments to be sent out of the different ves- 
sels,” answered Cuffe, smiling. 

“ Aye, aye, sir — the punishments, I grant, your honor ; but 
hanging is an execution , and not a punishment. God forbid 
that, at my time of life, I should be ordered to sail in a ship 

that has no punishment on board ; but I am really getting to 

be too old to look at executions with any sort of pleasure. Duty 
that isn’t done with pleasure is but poor duty, at the best, sir.” 
“ There are many disagreeable, and some painful duties to be 
performed, Strand ; this of executing a man, let the offence be 
what it may, is among the most painful.” 

“For my part, Captain Cuffe, I do not mind hanging a 
mutineer so very much, for he is a being that the world ought 

%! ' O f O 

jr • 

not to harbor ; but it is a different thing with an enemy and a 
spy. It’s our duty to spy as much as we can for our king and 
country, and one ought never to bear too hard on such as does 
their duty. With a fellow that can’t obey orders, and who puts 
his own will above the pleasure of his superiors, I have no 


WING-AND-WING. 


365 


patience ; but I do not so much understand why the gentlemen 
of the courts are so hard on such as do a little more reconn’itrin’ 
than common.” 

“ That is because ships are less exposed to the attempts of 
spies than armies, Strand. A soldier hates a spy as much as 
you do a mutineer. The reason is, that he may be surprised 
by an enemy through his means, and butchered in his sleep. 
Nothing is so unpleasant to a soldier as a surprise ; and the law 
against spies, though a general law of war, originated with sol- 
diers, rather than with us sailors, I should think.” 

“ Yes, sir, I dare say your honor is right. He’s a rum ’un, a 
soldier, at the best; and this opinion proves it. Now, sir, 
Captain Cuffe, just suppose a Frenchman of about our own 
metal took it into his head to surprise the Proserpine, some 
dark night ; what would come of it, after all ? There’s the 
guns, and it’s only to turn the hands up, to set ’em at work, 
just the same as if there wasn’t a spy in the world. And 
should they prefer to come on board us, and to try their luck 
at close quarters, I rather think, sir, the surprise would meet 
’em face to face. No, no, sir ; spies is nothing to us — though 
it might teach ’em manners to keel-haul one, once-and-a- 
while.” 

Cuffe now became thoughtful and silent, and even Strand did 
not presume to speak, when the captain was in this humor. 
The latter descended to the forecastle, and walked aft, his hands 
behind his back, and his head inclining downwards. Every one 
he met made way for him, as a matter of course. In that 
mood, he moved among the throng of a ship of war, as a man 
tabooed. Even AVinchester respected his commander’s abstrac- 
tion, although he had a serious request to make, which it is 
time to explain. 

Andrea Barrofaldi and Vito A 7 iti remained on board the 
frigate, inmates of the cabin, and gradually becoming more 
accustomed to their novel situation. They did not escape the 
jokes of a ifian-of-war, but, on the whole, they were well 
treated, and were tolerably satisfied; more especially as the 


366 


WING-AND-WING. 


hope of capturing le Feu-Follet began to revive. As a matter 
of course, they were apprised of the condition of Raoul ; and, 
both kind and benevolent men in the main, they were desirous 
of conversing with the prisoner, and of proving to him that 
they bore no malice. Winchester was spoken to on the sub- 
ject ; but before he granted the permission, he thought it safest 
to consult the Captain in the matter. At length an opportunity 
offered, Cuffe suddenly rousing himself, and giving an order in 
relation to the canvas the ship was under. 

“ Here are the two Italian gentlemen, Captain Cuffe,” observed 
Winchester, “desirous of speaking to the prisoner. I did not 
think it right, sir, to let him have communication with any one, 
without first ascertaining your pleasure.” 

“ Poor fellow ! — His time is getting very short, unless we 
hear from Clinch ; and there can be no harm in granting him 
every indulgence. I have been thinking of this matter, and do 
not possibly see how I can escape ordering the execution, unless 
it be countermanded from Nelson himself.” 

“ Certainly not, sir. But Mr. Clinch is an active and expe- 
rienced seaman, when he is in earnest ; we may still hope some- 
thing from him. What is to be done with the Italians, sir?” 

“ Let them, or any one else that poor Yvard is willing to see, 
go below.” 

“ Do you mean to include old Giuntotardi and his niece, 
Captain Cuffe ? — and this deserter of our own, Bolt, — he, too, 
has had something to say of a wish to take leave of his late 
shipmate ?” 

“ We might be justified in denying the request of the last, 
Mr. Winchester, but hardly of the others. Still, if Raoul Yvard 
wishes to see even him, his desire may as well be granted.” 

Thus authorized, Winchester no longer hesitated about grant- 
ing the several permissions. An order was sent to the sentinel, 
through the corporal of the guard, to allow any one to enter the 
prisoner’s room whom the latter might wish to receive. A ship 
was not like a prison on shore, escape being next to impossible, 
more especially from a vessel at sea. The parties accordingly 


WING-AND-WING. 


367 




received intimation that they might visit the condemned man, 
should the latter be disposed to receive them. 

By this time, something like a general gloom had settled on 
the ship. The actual state of things was known to all on board, 
and tew believed it possible that Clinch could reach the Fou- 
droyant, receive his orders, and be back in time to prevent the 
execution. It wanted now but three hours of sunset, and the 
minutes appeared to fly, instead of dragging. The human mind 
is so constituted, that uncertainty increases most of its sensa- 
tions ; — the apprehension of death even, very usually exciting 
a livelier emotion than its positive approach. Thus it was with 
the officers and people of the Proserpine : had there been no 
hope of escaping the execution, they would have made up their 
minds to submit to the evil, as unavoidable ; but the slight 
chance which did actually exist, created a feverish excitement 
that soon extended to all hands ; and this as completely as if 
a chase were in sight, and each individual was bent on overtaking 
her. As minute after minute flew by, the feeling increased, 
until it would not much exceed the bounds of truth to say, that, 
under none of the vicissitudes of war did there ever exist so 
feverish an hour, on board his Britannic Majesty’s ship, the 
Proserpine, as the very period of which we are now writing. 
Eyes were constantly turned towards the sun, and several of the 
young gentlemen collected on the forecastle, with no other view 
than to be as near as possible to the headland around which 
the boat of Clinch was expected to make her re-appearance, as 
behind it she had last been seen. 

The zephyr had come at the usual hour, but it was light, and 
the ship was so close to the mountains as to feel very little of 
its force. It was different with the two other vessels. Lyon 
had gone about in time to get clear of the highest mountains, 
and his lofty sails took enough of the breeze to cany him out 
to sea, three or four hours before ; while the Terpsichore, under 
Sir Frederick Dash wood, had never got near enough in with the 
land to be becalmed at all. Her head had been laid to the 
south-west, at the first appearance of the afternoon wind; and 


368 


WING - AND - WING. 


that frigate was now hull-down to sea-ward — actually making 
a free wind of it, as she shaped her course up between Ischia 
and Capri. As for the Proserpine, when the bell struck three 
in the first dog-watch, she was just abeam of the celebrated little 
islets of the Sirens, the western breeze now beginning to die 
away, though, getting more of it, the ship was drawing ahead 
faster than she had been since the turn of the day. 

Three bells in the first dog-watch indicate the hour of half- 
past five. At that season of the year, the sun sets a few minutes 
past six. Of course there remained but little more than half an 
hour, in which to execute the sentence of the law. Cuffe had 
never quitted the deck, and he actually started, when he heard 
the first sound of the clapper. Winchester turned towards him, 
with an inquiring look ; for everything had been previously 
arranged between them ; he received merely a significant gesture 
in return. This, however, was sufficient. Certain orders were 
privately issued. Then there appeared a stir among the fore- 
top-men, and on the forecastle, where a rope was rove at the 
fore-yard-arm, and a grating was rigged for a platform — unerring 
signs of the approaching execution. 

Accustomed as these hardy mariners w T ere to brave dangers 
of all sorts, and to witness human suffering of nearly every 
degree, a feeling of singular humanity had come over the whole 
crew. Raoul was their enemy, it is true, and he had been 
sincerely detested by all hands, eight-and-forty hours before ; 
but circumstances had entirely changed the ancient animosity 
into a more generous and manly sentiment. In the first place, 
a successful and a triumphant enemy was an object very different 
from a man in their own power, and who lay entirely at their 
mercy. Then, the personal appearance of the young privateers- 
man was unusually attractive, and altogether different from what 
it had been previously represented, and that, too, by an active 
rivalry, that was not altogether free from bitterness. But chiefly 
was the generous sentiment awakened by the conviction that the 
master-passion, and none of the usual inducements of a spy, had 
brought their enemy into this strait ; and though clearly guilty 


WING-AND-WING. 


369 


in a technical point of view, that he was influenced by no pitiful 
wages, even allowing that he blended with the pursuit of his 
love, some of the motives of his ordinary warfare. All these 
considerations, coupled with the reluctance that seamen ever feel 
to having an execution in their ship, had entirely turned the 
tables ; and there, where Raoul would have found so lately 
between two and three hundred active and formidable enemies, 
he might almost be said now to have as many sympathizing 
friends. 

No wonder, then, that the preparations of the fore-top-men 
were regarded with unfavorable eyes. The unseen hand of 
authority, nevertheless, held all in restraint. Cuffe himself did 
not dare to hesitate any longer. The necessary orders were 
given, though with deep reluctance, and then the captain went 
below, as if to hide himself from human eyes. 

The ten minutes that succeeded were minutes of intense 
concern. All hands were called, the preparations had been 
completed, and Winchester waited only for the re-appearance 
of Cuffe, to issue the order to have the prisoner placed on the 
grating. A midshipman was sent into the cabin, after which 
the commanding officer came slowly, and with a lingering 
step, upon the quarter-deck. The crew was assembled on the 
forecastle and in the waists ; the marine guard was under arms ; 
the officers clustered around the capstan ; and a solemn, uneasy 
expectation pervaded the whole ship. The lightest footfall was 
audible. Andrea and his friend stood apart, near the tafffail, 
but no one saw Carlo Giuntotardi or his niece. 

u There is yet some five-and-twenty minutes of sun, I should 
think, Mr. Winchester,” observed Cuffe, feverishly glancing his 
eye at the western margin of the sea, towards which the orb of 
day was slowly settling, gilding all that side of the vault of 
heaven with the mellow lustre of the hour and latitude. 

“Not more than twenty, I fear, sir,’’ was the reluctant 
answer. 

“ I should think five might suffice, at the worst ; especially if 
the men make a swift run.” This was said in a half whisper, 

16 * 


370 


WING-AND-WING, 


and thick, husky tones, the Captain looking anxiously at the 
lieutenant the while. 

Winchester shrugged his shoulders, and turned away, 
unwilling to reply. 

Cuffe now had a short consultation with the surgeon, the object 
of which was to ascertain the minimum of time a man might live, 
suspended by the neck at the yard-arm of a frigate. The result 
was not favorable ; for a sign followed to bring forth the prisoner. 

Raoul came on deck, in charge of the master-at-arms, and the 
officer who had acted as provost-marshal. He was clad in his 
clean white lazzarone garb, wearing the red Phrygian cap 
already mentioned. Though his face was pale, no man could 
detect any tremor in the well-turned muscles that his loose 
attire exposed to view. He raised his cap courteously to the 
group of officers, and threw an understanding glance forward, at 
the fearful arrangement on the fore-yard. That lie was shocked 
when the grating and rope met his eye, is unquestionable ; but, 
rallying in an instant, he smiled, bowed to Cuffe, and moved 
towards the scene of his contemplated execution, firmly, but 
without the smallest signs of bravado in his manner. 

A death-like stillness prevailed, while the subordinates 
adjusted the rope, and placed the condemned man on the 
grating. Then the slack of the rope was drawn in by hand, 
and the men were ordered to lay hold of the instrument of 
death, and to stretch it along the deck. 

“ Stand by, my lads, to make a swift run and a strong jerk, 
at your first pull,” said Winchester, in a low voice, as he passed 
down the line. “Rapidity is mercy, at such a moment.” 

“Good God!” muttered Cuffe, “can the man die in this 
manner, without a prayer; without even a glance towards 
heaven, as if asking for mercy ?” 

“ He is an unbeliever, I hear, sir,” returned Griffin. “ We 
have offered him all the religious consolation we could ; but he 
seems to wish for none.” 

“ Hail the top-gallant yards once more, Mr. Winchester,” 
said Cuffe, huskily. 


WIN&-AND-WING. 


3*71 


“ Fore-top -gall ant yard, there !” 

“ Sir ?” 

“Any signs of the boat — look well into the bay of Naples — 
we are opening Campanella now sufficiently to give you a good 
look up towards the head.” 

A pause of a minute succeeded. Then the look-out aloft 
shook his head in the negative, as if unwilling to speak. 
Winchester glanced at Cuffe, who turned anxiously, mounted a 
gun, and strained his eyes in a gaze to the northward. 

“ All ready, sir,” said the first-lieutenant, when another 
minute elapsed. 

Cuffe was in the act of raising his hand, which would have 
been the signal of death, when the dull, heavy report of a 
distant gun came booming down from the direction of the 
town of Naples. 

“ Stand fast !” shouted Cuffe, fearful the men might get the 
start of him. “Make your mates take their calls from their 
mouths, sir. Two more guns, Winchester, and I am the 
happiest man in Nelson’s fleet !” 

A second gun did come, just as these words were uttered : 
then followed a breathless pause of half a minute, when a third, 
smothered, but unequivocal report succeeded. 

“It must be a salute, sir,” Griffin uttered, inquiringly. 

“ The interval is too long. Listen ! I hope to God we have 
had the last !” 

Every ear in the ship listened intently, Cuffe holding his 
watch in his hand. Two entire minutes passed, and no fourth 
gun was heard. As second after second went by, the expression 
of the captain’s countenance changed, and then he waved his 
hand in triumph. 

“ It’s as it should be, gentlemen,” he said. “ Take the 
prisoner below, Mr. Winchester. Unreeve the rope, and send 
that d d grating oft' the gun. Mr. Strand, pipe down.” 

Raoul was immediately led below. As he passed through 
the after-hatch, all the officers on the quarter-deck bowed to 
h’m ; and not a man was there in the ship who did not feel the 
happier for the reprieve. 


372 


WING-AND-WING. 


CHAPTER XXIII. 

“ He saw with his own eyes the moon was round, 

Was also certain that the earth was square, 

Because he’d journeyed fifty miles, and found 
No sign that it was circular anywhere.” 

Don Juan. 

Raoul Yvard was indebted to a piece of forethought in 
Clinch for his life. But for the three guns fired so opportunely 
from the Foudroyant, the execution could not have been stayed ; 
and but for a prudent care on the part of the master’s-mate, the 
guns would never have been fired. The explanation is this : 
when Cuffe was giving his subordinate instructions how to 
proceed, the possibility of detention struck the latter, and he 
bethought him of some expedient by which such an evil might 
be remedied. At his suggestion then, the signal of the guns 
was mentioned by the captain, in his letter to the commander- 
in-chief, and its importance pointed out. When Clinch reached 
the fleet, Nelson was at Castel a Mare, and it became necessary 
to follow him to that place by land. Here Clinch found him in 
the palace of Qui-Si-Sane, in attendance on the court, and 
delivered his despatches. Nothing gave the British admiral 
greater pleasure than to be able to show mercy, the instance to 
the contrary already introduced, existing as an exception in his 
private character and his public career ; and it is possible that 
an occurrence so recent, and so opposed to his habits, may have 
induced him the more willingly now to submit to his ordinary 
impulses, and to grant the respite asked with the greater 
promptitude. 

u Your captain tells me here, sir,” observed Nelson, after he 
had read Cuffe’s letter a second time, “ little doubt exists that 
Yvard was in the Bay on a love affair, and that his purposes 
were not those of a spy, after all V’ 


WIN G-AND-WIN6. 


373 


“Such is the opinion aboard us, my lord,” answered the 
master’s-mate. “ There are an old man and a very charming 
young woman in his company, who Captain Cuffe says were 
in the cabin of this ship, on a visit to your lordship only a few 
days since.” 

Nelson started, and his face flushed. Then he seized a pen, 
and, with the only hand he had, scratched a letter, directing a 
reprieve until further orders. This he signed and handed to 
Clinch, saying, as he did so — 

“ Get into your boat, sir, and pull back to the frigate as fast 
as possible ; God forbid that any man suffer wrongfully !” 

“ I beg your pardon, my lord — but there is not time, now, 
for me to reach the ship before the sun set. I have a signal 
prepared in the boat, it is true ; but the frigate may not come 
round Campanella before the last moment, and then all these 
pains will be lost. Does not Captain Cuffe speak of some guns 
to be fired from the flag-ship, my lord ?” 

“ He does, sir ; and this may be the safest mode of commu- 
nicating, after all. With this light westerly air, a gun will be 
heard a long distance at sea. Take the pen, and write as I 
dictate, sir.” 

Clinch seized the pen, which the admiral, who had lost his 
right arm only a few years before, really felt unable to use, and 
wrote as follows : — 

“ Sir — Immediately on the receipt of this, you will fire three 
heavy guns, at intervals of half-a-minute, as a signal to the 
Proserpine to suspend an execution. 

“To the Commanding Officer of His Majesty’s Ship Fou- 
droyant.” 

As soon as the magical words of “ Nelson and Bronte” were 
affixed to this order, with a date, Clinch rose to depart. After 
he had made his bows, he stood with his hand on the lock of 
the door, as if uncertain whether to prefer a request or not. 

“ This is a matter of moment, sir, and no time is to be lost,” 


/ 


374 WING-AND-WING. 

added Nelson. “ I feel great anxiety about it, and wisli you to 
desire Captain Cuffe to send you back with a report of all that 
has passed, as soon as convenient.” 

“ I will report your wishes, my lord,” answered Clinch, 
brightening up ; for he only wanted an opportunity to speak 
of his own promotion, and this wa* now offered in perspective. 
“ May I tell the commanding officer of the flag-ship to use the 
lower-deck guns, my lord ?” 

“He will do that of his own accord, after reading those 
orders ; heavy guns mean the heaviest. Good afternoon, sir ; 
for God’s sake, lose no time.” 

Clinch obeyed this injunction to the letter. He reached the 
Foudroyant some time before sunset, and immediately placed 
the order in her captain’s hands. A few words of explanation 
set everything in motion, and the three guns were fired on the 
side of the ship towards Capri, most opportunely for our hero. 

The half-hour that succeeded, on board the Proserpine, was 
one of gaiety and merriment. Every person was glad that the 
ship had escaped an execution ; and then it was the hour for 
piping down the hammocks, and for shifting the dog-watches. 
Cuffe recovered all his animation, and conversed cheerfully, 
having Griffin for an interpreter, with his two Italian guests. 
These last had been prevented from paying their visit to the 
prisoner, on account of the latter’s wish to be alone ; but the 
intention was now renewed; and sending below, to ascertain if 
it would be agreeable, they proceeded together on their friendly 
mission. As the two worthies, who had not altogether got 
their sea-legs, slowly descended the ladder, and threaded their 
way among the throng of a ship, the discourse did not flag 
between them. 

“Cospetto!” exclaimed the podesta; “Signor Andrea, we 
live in a world of wonders ! A man can hardly say whether he 
is actually alive, or not. To think how near this false Sir Smees 
was to death, half-an-hour since ; and now, doubtless, he is as 
much alive, and as merry as any of us.” 

“ It would be more useful, friend Vito Yiti,” answered the 


WING-AND-WING. 


375 


philosophical vice-governatore, “ to remember how near those 
who live are always to death, who has only to open his gates, 
to cause the strongest and fairest to pass at once into the 
tomb.” 

“ By San Stefano, but you have a way with you, vice- 
governatore, that would become a cardinal ! It’s a thousand 
pities the church was robbed of such a support ; though I do 
think, Signor Andrea, if your mind would dwell less on another 
state of being, it would be more cheerful ; and I may say, more 
cheering to those with whom you discourse. There are evils 
enough, in this life, without thinking so much of death.” 

“There are philosophers who pretend, good Vito, that nothing 
that we see around us actually has an existence : that we fancy 
everything; fancy that this is a sea, called the Mediterranean ; 
fancy this is a ship — yonder is the land ; fancy that we live ; 
and even fancy death.” 

“Corpo di Bacco! Signor Andrea,” exclaimed the other, stop- 
ping short at the foot of the ladder, and seizing his companion 
by a button, afraid he would desert him in the midst of a 
strange delusion, “you would not trifle in such a matter with 
an old friend ; one who has known you from childhood ? Fancy 
that I am alive !” 

“ Si — I have told you only the truth. The imagination is 
very strong, and may easily give the semblance of reality to 
unreal things.” 

“And that I am not a podesta in fact, but one only in 
fancy !” 

“Just so, friend Vito; and that I am only a vice-governatore, 
too, in the imagination.” 

“ And that Elba is not a real island, or Porto Ferrajo a real 
town ; and that even all our iron, of which we seem to send so 
much about the world, in good, wholesome ships, is only a sort 
of ghost of solid, substantial metal !” 

“ Si, si — that everything which appears to be material, is, in 
fact, imaginary ; iron, gold, or flesh.” 

“And then I am not Vito VLi, but an impostor? What a 


37 6 


WING-AND- WIN G. 


rascally philosophy is this ! Why, both of us are as bad as 
this Sir Smees, if what you say be true, vice-governatore — or 
make-believe vice-governatore.” 

“Not an impostor, friend Vito ; for there is no real being of 
thy name, if thou art not he.” 

“Diavolo! A pretty theory this, which would teach the 
young people of Elba that there is no actual podesta in the 
island, but only a poor, miserable, sham one ; no Vito Viti on 
earth. If they get to think this, God help the place, as to order 
and sobriety.” 

“I do not think, neighbor, that you fully understand the 
matter, which may be owing to a want of clearness on my part ; 
but, as we are now on our way to visit an unfortunate prisoner, 
w r e may as well postpone the discussion to another time. There 
are many leisure moments on board a ship, to the language of 
which one is a stranger, that might be usefully and agreeably 
relieved by going into the subject more at large.” 

“ Your pardon, Signor Andrea ; but there is no time like the 
present. Then, if the theory be true, there is no prisoner at all 
— or, at the most, an imaginary one — and it can do Sir Smees 
no harm to wait; while, on the other hand, I shall not have a 
moment’s peace until I learn whether there is such a man as 
Vito Viti or not, and whether I am he.” 

“ Brother Vito, thou art impatient ; these things are not 
learned in a moment ; moreover, every system has a beginning 
and an end, like a book ; and who would ever become learned, 
that should attempt to read a treatise backwards ?” 

“I know what is due to you, Signor Andrea, both on account 
of your higher rank, and on account of your greater wisdom, 
and will say no more at present ; though to keep from thinking 
on a philosophy that teaches I am not a podesta, or you a vice- 
governatore, is more than flesh and blood can bear.” 

Andrea Barrofaldi, glad that his companion was momentarily 
appeased, now proceeded towards Raoul’s little prison, and was 
immediately admitted by the sentry, who had his orders to that 
effect. The prisoner received his guests courteously and cheer- 


WING-AND-WING. 


377 


fully ; for we are far from wishing to represent him as so heroic 
as not to rejoice exceedingly at having escaped death by hang- 
ing, even though it might prove to he a respite, rather than a 
pardon. At such a moment, the young man could have excused 
a much more offensive intrusion, and the sudden change in his 
prospects disposed him a little to be jocular ; for truth compels 
us to add, that gratitude to God entered but little into his 
emotions. The escape from death, like his capture, and the 
other incidents of his cruise, was viewed simply as the result 
of the fortune of war. 

Winchester had directed that Raoul’s state-room should be 
supplied with every little convenience that his situation required, 
and, among other things, it had two common ship’s stools. One 
of these was given to each of the Italians, while the prisoner 
took a seat on the gun-tackle of one of the two guns that formed 
the sides of his apartment. It was now night, and a mist had 
gathered over the arch above, which hid the stars, and rendered 
it quite dark. Still, Raoul had neither lamp nor candles ; and, 
though they had been offered him, he declined their use, as he 
had found stranger eyes occasionally peeping through the open- 
ings in the canvas, with the idle curiosity of the vulgar, to 
ascertain the appearance and employments of one condemned 
to die. He had experienced a good deal of annoyance from this 
feeling the previous night ; and the same desire existing to see 
how a criminal could bear a respite, he had determined to pass 
his evening in obscurity. There was a lantern or two, however, 
on the gun-deck, which threw a dim light even beyond the 
limits of the canvas bulkheads. As has been said already, 
these bulkheads extended from gun to gun, so as to admit 
light and air from the ports. This brought the tackles, on one 
side, into the room ; and on one of these Raoul now took his 
seat. 

Andrea Barrofaldi, from his superior condition in life, as 
well as from his better education and nicer natural tact, far 
surpassed his companion in courtesy of demeanor. The latter 
would have plunged in medias res at once, but the vice- 


378 


WING-AND-WING. 


governatore commenced a conversation on general matters, 
intending to offer his congratulations fur the recent respite 
when he conceived that a suitable occasion should arise. 
This was an unfortunate delay in one respect ; for Vito Yiti 
no sooner found that the main object of the visit was to be 
postponed, than he turned with eagerness to the subject in 
discussion, which had been interrupted in order to enter the 
state-room. 

“ Here has the vice-go vernatore come forward with a theory, 
Sir Smees,” he commenced, the moment a pause in the dis- 
course left him an opening — “ here has the vice-go vernatore 
come forward with a theory that I insist the church would call 
damnable, and at which human nature revolts — ” 

“Nay, good Vito, thou dost not state the case fairly,’’ 
interrupted Andrea, whose spirit was a little aroused at so 
abrupt an assault. “ The theory is not mine ; it is that of a 
certain English philosopher, in particular, who, let it be said, 
too, was a bishop.” 

“ A Lutheran ! — was it not so, honorable Signore Andrea ? — 
a bishop so called?” 

“ Why, to confess the truth, he ivas a heretic, and not to be 
considered as an apostle of the true church.” 

“ Aye — I would have sworn to that. No true son of the 

church would ever broach such a doctrine. Only fancy, 

%> %/ * 

signori, the number of imaginary fires, tongues, and other 
instruments of torture that would become necessary to carry on 

V %/ 

punishment under such a system ! To be consistent, even the 
devils ought to be imaginary.” 

“ Comment, signori !” exclaimed Raoul, smiling, and arous- 
ing to a sudden interest in the discourse ; u did any English 
bishop ever broach such a doctrine ? Imaginary devils, and 
imaginary places of punishment, are coming near to our revo- 
lutionary France ! After this, I hope our much abused 
philosophy will meet with more respect.” 

“ My neighbor has not understood the theory of which he 
speaks,” answered Andrea, too good a churchman not to feel 


WING-AND-WING. 


379 


uneasiness at the direction things were taking : “ and so, worthy 
Vito Viti, I feel the necessity of explaining the whole matter at 
some length. Sir Smees,” so the Italians called Raoul, out of 
courtesy still, it being awkward for them, after all that had 
passed, to address him by his real name — “ Sir Smees will 
excuse us for a few minutes ; perhaps it may serve to amuse 
him to hear to what a flight the imagination of a subtle-minded 
man can soar.” 

Raoul civilly expressed the satisfaction it would give him to 
listen, and stretching himself on the gun-tackle, in order to be 
more at ease, he leaned back with his head faddy within the 
port, while his feet were braced against the inner truck of the 
gun-carriage. This threw him into a somewhat recumbent 
attitude, but it being understood as intended to render what 
was but an inconvenient seat at the best, tolerably comfortable, 
no one thought it improper. 

It is unnecessary for us to repeat here all that Andrea Bar- 
rofaldi thought proper to say in his own justification, and in 
explanation of the celebrated theory of Bishop Berkely. Such 
a task was not performed in a minute ; and, in truth, prolixity, 
whenever he got upon a favorite theme, was apt to be one of 
the vice-go vernatore’s weaknesses. He was far from acquies- 
cing in the doctrine, though he annoyed his old neighbor 
exceedingly, by presenting the subject in such a way as to 
render it respectable in appearance, if not conclusive in argu- 
ment. To the latter it was peculiarly unpleasant to imagine, 
even for the sake of argument, that there was no such island 
as Elba, and that he was not its podesta ; and all his personal 
and egotistical propensities came in aid of his official reluc- 
tance, to disgust him thoroughly with a theory that he did 
not hesitate to say, “ was an outrage on every honest man’s 
nature.” 

“ There are fellows in the world, Signore Andrea,” the straight- 
forward podesta urged, in continuation of his objections, u who 
might be glad enough to find everything imaginary, as you say 
— chaps that cannot sleep of nights, for bad consciences, and to 


380 


W I N G - A N D - W I N G . 


whom it would be a great blessing if the earth would throw 
them overboard, as they say in this ship, and let them fall into 
the great ocean of oblivion. But they are baroni in grain, and 
ought not to pass for anything material, among honest people. 
I’ve known several of those rogues at Livorno, and I dare say 
Napoli is not altogether without them ; but that is a very 
different matter from telling a handsome and virtuous young 
maiden, that her beauty and modesty are both seeming ; and 
respectable magistrates, that they are as great impostors as the 
very rogues they send to the prisons ; or, perhaps, to the 
galleys.” 

To speeches like these, Andrea opposed his explanations and 
his philosophy, until the discussion became animated, and the 
dialogue loud. It is rather a peculiarity of Italy, that one of the 
softest languages of Christendom is frequently rendered harsh 
and unpleasant by the mode of using it. On this occasion, 
certainly, the animation of the disputants did not mitigate the 
evil. Griffin happened to pass the spot, on the outside of the 
canvas, just at this moment, and, catching some of the words, 
he stopped to listen. His smiles and translations soon collected 
a group of officers, and the sentry respectfully dropping a little 
on one side, the deck around the state-room of the prisoner 
became a sort of parquet to a very amusing representation. 
Several of the young gentlemen understood a little Italian, and 
Griffin translating rapidly, though in an under-tone, the wffiole 
affair w r as deemed to be particularly diverting. 

“ This is a rum way of consoling a man who is condemned 
to die,” muttered the master ; “ I w r onder the Frenchman stands 
all their nonsense.” 

“ Oh !” rejoined the marine officer, “ drill will do anything. 
These Revolutionists are so drilled into hypocrisy, that, I dare 
say, the fellow is grinning the whole time, as if perfectly 
delighted.” 

Raoul, in fact, listened with no little amusement. At first, 
his voice was occasionally heard in the discussion, evidently 
aiming at exciting the disputants ; but the w T armth of the latter 


WING-AND-WING. 


881 


soon silenced him, and he was fain to do nothing hut listen. 
Shortly after the discussion got to be warm, and just as Griffin 
was collecting his group, the prisoner stretched himself still 
further into the port, to enjoy the coolness of the evening breeze, 
when, to his surprise, a hand was laid gently on his forehead. 

“ Hush !” whispered a voice close to his ear, u it is the Ameri- 
can — Ithuel — be cool ; — now is the moment to pull for life.” 

Raoul had too much self-command to betray his astonishment, 
but, in an instant, every faculty he possessed was on the alert. 
Ithuel, he knew, was a man for exigencies. Experience had 
taught him a profound respect for his enterprise and daring, 
when it became necessary to act. Something must certainly be 
in the wind, worthy of his attention, or this cautious person 
would not have exposed himself in a situation which would be 
sure to lead to punishment, if detected. Ithuel was seated astride 
of one of the chains, beneath the main-channel of the ship, a 
position which might be maintained without detection, possibly, 
so long as it continued dark ; but which, in itself, if seen, would 
have been taken as a proof of an evil intention. 

“ What would you have, Etooelle ?” whispered Raoul, who 
perceived that his companions were too much occupied to observe 
his movements, or to hear his words. 

“ The Eye talian, and his niece, are about to go ashore. Every- 
thing is ready and understood. I’ve consaited you might pass 
out of the port, in the dark, and escape in the boat. Keep 
quiet — we shall see.” 

Raoul understood his respite to be a thing of doubtful termi- 
nation. Under the most favorable results, an English prison 
remained in perspective, and then the other side of the picture 
offered the image of Ghita to his eye ! He was in a tumult of 
feeling, but, accustomed to self-command, no exclamation escaped 
him. 

“ When — cher Etooelle ? when f ” he asked, his whisper being 
tremulous, in spite of every effort to command himself. 

“Now — too-der-sweet — ( tout-de-suite ) — the boat is at the 
gangway, and old Giuntotardi is in her — they are rigging a chair 


382 


WING-AND-WING. 


for the gal. — Aye — there she swings off! — don’t you hear the 
call ?” 


Raoul did hear the whistle of the boatswain, which was 
piping “ lower away” at that very moment. He listened intently, 
as he lay stretched upon the gun-tackles ; and then he heard 
the splash in the water, as the boat was hauled closer to, in 
order to be brought beneath the chair. The rattling of oars, too, 
was audible, as Ghita left the seat, and moved aft. “ Round in,” 
called out the officer of the deck ; after which Carlo Giuntotardi 
was left in quiet possession of his own boat. 

The moment was exceedingly critical. Some one, in all proba- 
bility, was watching the boat from the deck ; and, though the 
night was dark, it required the utmost caution to proceed with 
any hopes of success. At this instant, Ithuel again whispered — 
“ The time’s near. Old Carlo has his orders, and little Ghita 
is alive to see them obeyed. All now depends on silence and 
activity. In less than five minutes, the boat will be under the 


Raoul understood the plan ; but it struck him as hopeless. 
It seemed impossible that Ghita could be permitted to quit the 
ship without a hundred eyes watching her movements ; and 
though it was dark, it was far from being sufficiently so, to 
suppose it practicable for any one to join her and not be seen. 
Yet this risk must be taken, or escape was out of the question. 
An order given through the trumpet was encouraging ; it 
announced that the officer of the watch was employed at some 
duty that must draw his attention another way. This was a 

%! 4/ 

o’ re at deal; few presuming to look aside while this functionary 
was inviting their attention in another direction. Raoul’s brain 
was in a whirl. The two Italians were at the height of their 
d mission ; and fortunately, the clamor they made was at the 

%} 1 J 


loudest. Even the suppressed laughter of the officers on the 
outside of the canvas, was audible to him ; though the disputants 
e uM hear nothing but their own voices. Every knock of the 
■,iV against the ship's sul \ every sou d of the oars, as Carlo’s 

foot rattled them about, and the wash of the water, was audible. 


WING-AND-WING. 


383 


It seemed as if all the interests of life — the future, the past, and 
the present, together with the emotions of his whole heart, were 
compressed into that single instant. Ignorant of what was 
expected, he asked Itliuel, in French, the course he ought to 
take. 

“ Am I to fall head-foremost into the water ? What would 
you have of me ?” he whispered. 

“ Lie quiet, till I tell you to move, I’ll make the signal, 
Captain Rule ; let the Eyetalians blaze away.” 

Raoul could not see the water, as he lay with his head fairly 
in the port ; and he had to trust entirely to the single sense of 
hearing. Knock, knock, knock ; the boat dropped slowly along 
the ship’s side, as if preparing to shove off. All this, Carlo 
Giuntotardi managed exceedingly well. When he lay imme- 
diately beneath the main-channels, it would not have been an 
easy thing to see his boat, even had there been any one on the 
look-out. Here he held on ; for he was not so lost to external 
things, as not fully to understand what was expected of him. 
Perhaps he was less attended to by those on deck, from the 
circumstance that no one believed him capable of so much 
worldly care. 

u Is everything safe for a movement, inboard ?” whispered 
Ithuel. 

Raoul raised his head and looked about him. That a group 
was collected around the state-room he understood by the move- 
ments, the low conversation, and the suppressed laughter; still, 
no one seemed to be paying any attention to himself. As lie 
had not spoken for some time, however, he thought it might be 
well to let his voice be heard ; and taking care that it should 
sound well within the port, he made one of the light obj< ctions 
to the vice-governatore’s theory, that he had urged at the 
commencement of the controversy. This was little heeded, as 
he expected ; but it served to make those without know that he 
was in his prison, and might prevent an untimely discovery. 
Everything else seemed propitious ; and lying down again at 
his length, his face came within a few inches of Ithuel’s. 


384 


WING-AND-WING. 


“ All safe,” he whispered ; “ what would you have me do ?” 

“ Nothing,* but shove yourself ahead carefully, by means of 
your feet.” 

This Raoul did ; at first, as it might be, inch by inch, until 
Itliuel put the end of a rope into his hands, telling him it was 
well fast to the channel above. The rope rendered the rest 
easy ; the only danger now being of too much precipitation. 
Nothing would have been easier than for Raoul to drag: his 
body out at the port, and to drop into the boat, but, to escape, it 
was still necessary to avoid observation. The ship was quite 
half-a-league from the point of Campanella, and directly abreast 
of it ; and there was no security to the fugitives unless they got 
some distance the start of any pursuers. This consideration 
induced the utmost caution on the part of Ithuel ; nor was it 
entirely lost on his friend. By this time, however, Raoul found 
he was so completely master of his movements, as to be able to 
swing his legs out of the port, by a very trifling effort ; then the 
descent into the boat would be the easiest thine* imaginable. 
But a pressure from the hand of Ithuel checked him. 

“Wait a little,” whispered the latter, “till the Eyetalians 
are at it, cat and dog fashion.” 

The discussion was now so loud and warm, that it was not 
necessary to lose much time. Ithuel gave the signal, and Raoul 
dragged his head and shoulders up by his arms, while he placed 
his feet against the gun ; the next moment, he was hanging 
perpendicularly beneath the main-chains. To drop lightly and 
noiselessly iftto the boat, took but a second. When his feet 
touched a thwart, he found that the American was there before 
him. The latter dragged him down to his side, and the two 
lay concealed in the bottom of the yawl, with a cloak of Ghita’s 
thrown over their persons. Carlo Giuntotardi was accustomed 
to the management of a craft like that in which he now found 
himself, and simply releasing his boat-hook from one of the 
chains, the ship passed slowly ahead, leaving him, in about a 
minute, fairly in her wake, a hundred feet astern. 

So far, everything had succeeded surprisingly. The night 


WING-AND-WING. 


385 


was so dark, as to embolden the two fugitives now to rise, and 
to take their seats on the thwarts ; though all this was done 
with exceeding caution, and without the least noise. The oars 
were soon out, Carlo took the tiller, and a feeling of exultation 
glowed at the heart of Raoul, as he bent to his ashen implement, 
and felt the boat quiver with the impulse. 

“ Take it coolly, Captain Rule,” said Ithuel in a low voice ; 
“ it’s a long pull, and we are still within ear-shot of the frigate. 
In five minutes more we shall be dropped so far, as to be beyond 
sight ; then we may pull directly out to sea, if we wish.” 

Just then the bell of the Proserpine struck four; the signal it 
was eight o’clock. Immediately after, the watch was called, and 
a stir succeeded in the ship. 

“ They only turn the hands up,” said Raoul, who perceived 
that his companion paused, like one. uneasy. 

“That is an uncommon movement for shifting the watch! 
What is that 

It was clearly the overhauling of tackles ; the plash of a boat, 
as it struck the water, followed. 


386 


WING-AND-WING. 


CHAPTER XXIV. 

“Our dangers and delights are near allies ; 

From the same stem the rose and prickle rise.” 

Alleyn. 

It has been seen that a generous sympathy had taken place 
of hostile feeling, as respects Raoul, in the minds of most on 
board the Proserpine. Under the influence of this sentiment, 
an order had been passed through the sentries, not to molest 
their prisoner by too frequent or unnecessary an examination of 
the state-room. With a view to a proper regard to both delicacy 
and watchfulness, however, Winchester had directed that the 
angle of the canvas nearest the cabin -door lantern, should be 
opened a few inches, and that the sentinel should look in every 
half-hour ; or as often as the ship’s bell told the progress of time. 
The object was simply to be certain that the prisoner was in his 
room, and that he was making no attempt on his own life ; a 
step that had been particularly apprehended previously to the 
respite. Xow, the whole of the dispute between the two Italians, 
and that which had passed beneath the ship’s channels, did not 
occupy more than six or seven minutes ; and the little cluster of 
officers was still gaining recruits, when Raoul was fairly in the 
yawl of his own lugger. At this moment the ship’s bell struck 
the hour of eight. The marine advanced, with the respect 
of a subordinate, but with the steadiness of a man on post, to 
examine the state-room. Although the gentlemen believed 
this caution unnecessary, the loud voices of Andrea and Vito Viti 
being of themselves a sort of guarantee that the prisoner was in 
his cage, they gave way to a man, fully understanding that a 
sentinel was never to be resisted. The canvas was opened a 
few inches, the light of the lantern at the cabin-door shot in, 


WING-AND-WING. 


387 


and there sat the vice-go vernatore and the podesta, gesticulating 
and staring into each other’s faces, still in hot dispute ; but the 
place of Raoul Yvard was empty ! 

Yelverton happened to look into the room with the sentinel. 
He was a young man of strong powers of perception, with all 
the phrenological bumps that are necessary to the character, 
and he saw, at a glance, that the bird had flown. The first 
impression was, that the prisoner had thrown himself into 
the sea, and he rushed on deck without speaking to those around 
him, made a hurried statement to the officer of the watch, and 
had a quarter-boat in the water in a surprisingly short time. 
His astonished companions below T were less precipitate, though 
the material fact was soon known to them. Griffin gave a 
hasty order, and the canvas bulkhead came down, as it might 
be, at a single jerk, leaving the tw r o disputants in full view, 
utterly unconscious of the escape of their late companion, sput- 
tering and gesticulating furiously. 

“ Halloo ! vice-governatore,” cried Griffin, abruptly, for he 
saw that the moment was not one for ceremony ; “ wdiat have 
you done with the Frenchman ? — where is Raoul Yvard ?” 

“ II Signor Sir Smees ? Monsieur Yvard, if you w ill ? 
Neighbor Vito, what, indeed, has become of the man who 
so lately sat there 

“ Cospetto ! — according to your doctrine, Signor Andrea, 
there never was a man there at all — only the imagination 
of one ; it is not surprising that such a being should be missed. 
But I protest against any inferences being drawn from this acci- 
dent. All Frenchmen are flighty and easily carried away, and 
now that they are no longer ballasted by religion, they are so 
many moral feathers. No, no — let a man of respectable infor- 
mation, of sound principles, and a love for the saints, with 
a good, substantial body, like myself, vanish only once, and 
then I may confess, it will tell in favor of your logic, vice-gover- 
natore.” 

“ An obstinate man, neighbor Yito, is a type of the imperfec- 
tions that a — ” 


388 


WIN G-AND-WIN G . 


“ Your pardon, Signor Barrofaldi,” interrupted Griffin, “ this 
is not a moment for philosophical theories, but for us seamen to 
do our duty. What has become of Raoul Yvard — your Sir 
Smees V 9 

“ Signor Tenente, as I hope to be saved, I have not the 
smallest idea ! There he was a minute or two since, seated 
by that cannon, apparently an attentive and much edified auditor 
of a discussion we were holding on the celebrated theory of 
a certain bishop of your own country ; which theory, rightly 
considered — mind I say rightly considered — neighbor Vito ; for 
the view you have taken of this matter is — ” 

“Enough of this, for the present, Signori” — added Griffin. 
“ The Frenchman was in this place when you came here ?” 

“He was, Signor Tenente, and seemed greatly to enjoy 
the discussion in which — ” 

“And you have not seen him quit you through the canvas, 
or the port ?” 

“ Not I, on my honor ; I did suppose him too much enter- 
tained to leave us.” 

“ Ah ! Sir Smees has just vanished into the imagination,” 
growled the podesta, “ which is going home to the great logical 
family of which he is an ideal member ! There being no lugger, 
no corsair, no sea, and no frigate, it seems to me that we 
are all making a stir about nothing;” 

Griffin did not stop to question further. He was quickly on 
deck, where he found Cuffe, who had just being brought out of 
his cabin by a hurried report. 

“What the d -1 is the meaning of all this, gentlemen V 9 

demanded the latter, in that tone which a commander so natu- 
rally assumes when things go wrong. “ Whoever has suffered 
the prisoner to escape may expect to hear from the Admiral 
directly, on the subject.” 

“ He is not in his state-room, sir,” answered Griffin, “ and I 
directed the boatswain to pipe away all the boats’ crews, as I 
came up the ladder.” 

As this was said, boat after boat was falling, and, in two or 


WING-AND-WING. 


389 


three minutes, no less than five were in the water, including 
that in which Yelverton was already rowing round the ship, to 
catch the presumed swimmer, or drowning man. 

“The Frenchman is gone, sir,” said Winchester, “and he 
must have passed out of the port. I have sent one of the gen- 
tlemen to examine if he is not stowed away about the chains.’ ’ 
“ Where is the boat of the old Italian and his niece ?” 

A pause succeeded this question, and light broke in upon all 
at the same instant. 

“That yawl was alongside,” cried Griffin — “no one was in 
her, however, but Giuntotardi and the girl.” 

“ Beg your pardon, sir,” said a young fore-top-man, who had 
just descended the rigging — “ I saw the boat from aloft, sir, and 
it hung some time, sir, under the starboard main-chains. — It was 
so dark, I couldn’t fairly make it out ; but summat seemed to 
be passed into it, from a port. I didn’t like the look of the 
thing, and so our captain just told me to come on deck, and 
report it, sir.” 

“Send Ithuel Bolt here, Mr. Winchester- — bear a hand, sir, 
and let us have a look at that gentleman.” 

It is needless to say that the call was unanswered ; and then 
all on board began to understand the mode of escape. Officers 
rushed into the several boats, and no less than five different 
parties commenced the pursuit. At the same time the ship 
hoisted a lantern, as a signal for the boats to rally to. 

It has been said that the Proserpine, when this incident 
occurred, was off the point of the Campanella, distance about 
half a marine league. The wind was light at east, or was what 
is called the land breeze, and the vessel had about three knots 
way on her. The headland was nearly abeam, and she was 
looking up through the pass which separates Capri from the 
main, hauling round into the Bay of Naples, intending to 
anchor in the berth she had left the previous day. The night 
was too dark to permit an object small as a boat to be seen at 
any distance, but the black mass of Capri was plainly visible bv 
its outlines, towering into the air near two thousand feet ; while 


390 


WING-AND-WING, 


the formation of the coast on the other side might be traced 
with tolerable certainty and distinctness. Such was the state of 
things when the five boats mentioned quitted the ship. 

Yelverton had acted as if a man were overboard; or, he had 
not waited for orders. While pulling round the ship alone, he 
caught sight, though very dimly, of the yawl, as it moved in 
towards the land; and, without communicating with any on 
board, the truth flashed on his mind also, and he gave chase. 
When the other boats were ready, the two that were on the 
outside of the ship pulled off to seaward a short distance, to look 
about them in that direction ; while the two others, hearing the 
oars of the light gig in which Yelverton was glancing ahead, 
followed the sound, under the impression that they were in 
pursuit of the yawl. Such was the state of things at the com- 
mencement of an exceedingly vigorous and hot pursuit. 

As Raoul and Ithuel had been at work, while time was lost 
in doubt in and around the ship, they had got about three 
hundred yards the start of even Yelverton. Their boat pulled 
unusually well ; and being intended for only two oars, it might 
be deemed full manned, with two as vigorous hands in it as 
those it had. Still, it was not a match for the second gig, and 
the four chosen men who composed its crew, which was the 
boat taken by Yelverton, in the hurry of the moment. In a 
pull of a mile and a half, the yawl was certain to be overtaken; 
and the practised ears of Raoul soon assured him of the fact. 
His own oars were muffled. He determined to profit by the 
circumstance, and turn aside, in the hope that his fleet pursuers 
w r ould pass him unseen. A sheer was accordingly given to the 
boat, and instead of pulling directly towards the land, the 
fugitives inclined to the westward ; the sea appearing the most 
obscure in that direction, on account of the proximity of Capri. 
This artifice was completely successful. Yelverton was so eager 
in the chase, that he kept his eyes riveted before him, fancying 
from time to time that he saw the boat ahead, and he passed 
within a hundred and fifty yards of the yawl, without in the 
least suspecting her vicinity. Raoul and Ithuel ceased rowing, 


WING-AND-WING. 


391 


to permit this exchange of position, and the former had a few 
sarcastic remarks on the stupidity of his enemies, as some relief 
to the feelings of the moment. None of the English had muf- 
fled oars. On the contrary, the sounds of the regular man-of- 
war jerks were quite audible in every direction ; hut so familiar 
were they to the ears of the Proserpines, that the crews of the 
two boats that came next after Yelverton, actually followed the 
sounds of his oars, under the belief that they were in the wake 
of the fugitives. In this manner, then, Raoul suffered three of 
the five boats to pass ahead of him. The remaining two were 
so distant as not to be heard ; and when those in advance were 
sufficiently distant, he and Ithuel followed them, with a leisurely 
stroke, reserving themselves for any emergency that might occur. 

It was a fair race between the gig and the two cutters that 
pursued her. The last had the sounds of the former’s oars in 
the ears of their crews to urge them to exertion, it being 
supposed they came from the strokes of the pursued ; while 
Yelverton was burning with the desire to outstrip those who 
followed, and to secure the prize for himself. This made easy 
work for those in the yawl, which was soon left more than a 
cable’s length astern. 

“ One would think, Ghita,” said Raoul, laughing, though 
he had the precaution to speak in an under-tone — “ one would 
think that your old friends, the vice-governatore and the 
podesta, commanded the boats in-shore of us, were it not 
known that they are this very moment quarrelling about the 
fact whether there is such a place as Elba on this great planet 
of ours or not.” 

“ Ah ! Raoul, remember the last dreadful eight-and-forty 
horn's ! do not stop to trifle until we are once more fairly 
beyond the power of your enemies.” 

“ Peste ! — I shall be obliged to own, hereafter, that there is 
some generosity in an Englishman. I cannot deny their treat- 
ment, and yet I had rather it had been more ferocious.” 

“ This is an unkind feeling : you should strive to tear it from 
your heart.” 


392 


WING-AND-WING. 


“ It’s a great deal to allow to an Englishman, Captain Rule, 
to allow him gineros’ty,” interrupted Ithuel. “ They’re a fierce 
race, and fatten on mortal misery.” 

“ Mais, bon Etooelle, your back has escaped this time ; you 
ought to be thankful.” 

“ They’re short-handed, and didn’t like to cripple a topman,” 
answered he of the Granite State, unwilling to concede any- 
thing to liberal or just sentiments. “ Had the ship’s comple- 
ment been full, they wouldn’t have left as much skin on my 
back as would cover the smallest sized pincushion. I owe ’em 
no thanks, therefore.” 

“ Bien ; quant a moi, I shall speak well of the bridge which 
carries me over,” said Raoul. “ Monsieur Cuffe has given me 
good food, good wine, good words, a good state-room, a good 
bed, and a most timely reprieve.” 

“ Is not your heart grateful to God for the last, dear Raoul ?” 
asked Ghita, in a voice so gentle and tender that the young 
man could have bowed down and worshipped her. 

After a pause, however, he answered, as if intentionally to 
avoid the question by levity. 

“ I forgot the philosophy, too,” he said. “ That was no 
small part of the good cheer. Ciel ! it was worth some risk 
to have the advantage of attending such a school. Did you 
understand the matter in dispute between the two Italians, 
brave Etooelle ?” 

“ I heerd their A^-talian jabber,” answered Ithuel ; “ but 
supposed it was all about saints’ days and eating fish. No 
reasonable man makes so much noise when he is talking 
sense.” 

“ Pardie — it was philosophy ! They laugh at us French for 
living by the rules of reason rather than those of prejudice ; 
and then to hear what they call philosophy ! You would 
scarce think it, Ghita,” continued Raoul, who was now light 
of heart, and full of the scene he had so lately witnessed — “ you 
would hardly think it, Ghita, but Signor Andrea, sensible and 
learned as he is, maintained that it was not folly to believe in a 


WING-AND-WING. 


393 


philosophy which teaches that nothing we see or do actually 
exists, but that everything was mere seeming. In short, that 
we live in an imaginary world, with imaginary people in it ; 
float on an imaginary sea, and cruise in imaginary ships.” 

“And was all that noise about an idee, Captain Rule ?” 

“Si — but men will quarrel about an idea — an imaginary 
thing, Etooelle, as stoutly as about substantials. Hist ! They 
will chase imaginary things, too, as are the boats ahead of us at 
this moment.” 

“ There are others following us,” observed Carlo Giuntotardi, 
who was more alive to surrounding objects than common ; and 
who, from his habitual silence, often heard that which escaped 
the senses of others. “ I have noticed the sound of their oars 
some time.” 

This produced a pause, and even a cessation in the rowing, 
in order that the two seamen might listen. Sure enough, the 
sound of oars was audible outside, as well as in shore, leaving 
no doubt that some pursuers were still behind them. This was 
bringing the fugitives between two fires, as it might be ; and 
Ithuel proposed pulling off at right angles to the course again, 
in order to get into the rear of the whole party. But to this 
Raoul objected. He thought the boats astern were still so dis- 
tant as to enable them to reach the shore in time to escape. 
Once on the rocks, there could be little danger of being overtaken 
in the darkness. Still, as it was a first object with Raoul to 
rejoin his lugger as soon as possible, after landing Ghita, he did 
not wish to place his boat in any situation of much risk. This 
induced some deliberation ; and it was finally determined to 
take a middle course, by steering into the pass between Capri 
and Campanella, in the expectation that when the leading English 
boats reached the point of the latter, they would abandon the 
pursuit as hopeless and return to the ship. 

“We can land you, dearest Ghita, at the Marina Grande of 
Sorrento ; then your walk to St. Agata will be neither long nor 
painful.” 

“ Do not mind me, Raoul ; put me on the land at the nearest 

11 * 


394 


WING-AND-WING. 


place, and go you to your vessel. God has relieved you from 
this great jeopardy, and your duty is to strive to act as it is evi- 
dent he intends you to do. As for me, leagues will be light, if 
I can only be satisfied that thou art in safety.” 

“ Aneel ! — Thou never thinkest of self! But not a foot this 
side of Sorrento will I quit thee. We can pull thither in an 
hour or two ; then I shall feel that I have done a duty. Once 
ashore, Etooelle and I can set our little sail, and will run out to 
sea between the two islands. No fear but what we can do that, 
with this land breeze ; after which, a few rockets burned, will 
tell us where to find le Feu-Follet.” 

Ghita again remonstrated, but in vain. Raoul persisted, and 
she was obliged to submit. The conversation now ceased ; the 
two men plying the oars diligently, and to good effect. Occa- 
sionally they ceased, and listened to the sounds of the oars in the 
frigate’s boats, all which were evidently collecting in the vicinity 
of the point or cape. By this time the yawl had the extremity 
of the land abeam, and it soon passed so far into the Bay as to 
bring most if not all of the pursuers astern. In the darkness, 
with no other guide than the sounds mentioned, and with so 
many pursuers, there was some uncertainty, of course, as to the 
position of all the boats ; but there was little doubt that most 
of them were now somewhere in the immediate vicinity of 
Campanella. As Raoul gave this point a good berth, and his 
own progress w T as noiseless, this was bringing himself and com- 
panions, after their recent dangers, into comparative security. 

More than an hour of steady rowing followed, during which 
time the yawl was making swift way towards the Marina Grande 
of Sorrento. After passing Massa, Raoul felt no further uneasi- 
ness, and he requested Carlo Giuntotardi to sheer in towards 
the land, where less resistance from the breeze was met with, 
and where it was also easier to know the precise position. 
Apprehension of the boats now ceased, though Ithuel fancied, 
from time to time, that he heard smothered sounds, like those 
of oars imperfectly muffled. Raoul laughed at his conceits and 
apprehensions, and, to confess the truth, he became negligent 


WING-AND-WING. 


395 


of his duty, again, in the soothing delight of finding himself, 
once more free, in all but heart, in the company of Ghita. In 
this manner the yawl moved ahead, though with materially 
diminished speed, until, by the formation of the heights, and 
the appearance of the lamps and candles on the piano, Ghita 
knew that they were drawing quite near to the indentation of 
the coast on which is situate the town of Sorrento. 

“ As soon as my uncle and myself have landed at the Marina 
Grande, Raoul,” said Ghita, “thou and the American will 
be certain to seek thy lugger ; then thou promisest to quit the 
coast ?” 

“ Why ask promises of one that thou dost not sufficiently 
respect to think he will keep them 

“ I do not deserve this, Raoul ; between thee and me, no pro- 
mise has ever been broken.” 

“It is not easy to break vows with one who will neither give 
nor accept them. I cannot boast of keeping such idle faith as 
this ! Go with me before some priest, Ghita, ask all that man 
ever has or can swear to, and then thou shalt see how a sailor 
can be true to his vow.’’ 

“ And why before a priest ? Thou know’st, Raoul, that, 
in thine eyes, all the offices of the church are mummery ; that 
nothing is more sacred with thee, for being sworn to at the altar 
of God, and with one of his holy ministers for a witness !” 

“ Every oath or promise made to thee , Ghita, is sacred in my 
eyes. It wanteth not any witness, or any consecrated j>lace, to 
make it more binding than thy truth and tenderness can insure. 
Thou art my priest — my altar — my — ” 

“Forbear!” exclaimed Ghita, in alarm, lest he should utter 
the name of that holy Being towards whom her heart was even 
at that moment swelling with gratitude for his own recent 
escape from death. “ Thou know’st not the meaning of thine 
own words, and might’st add that which would give me more 
pain than I can express.” 

“ Boat, ahoy !” cried a deep, nautical voice, within twenty 
yards of them, and in-shore ; the hail coming in the sudden, 


396 


WING-AND-WING. 


quick demand that distinguishes the call of a man-of-war’s- 
man. 

A pause of half a minute succeeded, for they in the yawl 
were completely taken by surprise. 

At length Itliuel, who felt the necessity of saying something, 
if he would not bring the stranger close alongside of them, 
answered in the customary manner of the Italians. 

Clinch, for it was he, scouring the shore in quest of the 
lugger, on his way back to the Proserpine, gave a growl when 
he found that he must speak in a foreign tongue, if he would 
continue the discourse ; then he mustered all the Italian of 
which he was master for the occasion. Having cruised long on 

o o 

the station, this was sufficient, however, for his present pur- 
pose. 

“ Is that a boat from Massa or from Capri he inquired. 

“Neither, S’nore,” answered Raoul, afraid to trust Carlo’s 
conscience with the management of such a dialogue. “ We 
come round the cape, from St. Agata, and carry figs to 
Napoli.” 

“ St Agata, aye, that is the village on the heights ; I passed 
a night there myself, in the house of one Maria Giuntotardi — ” 

“ Who can this be ?” murmured Ghita — “ my aunt knows no 
forestieri !” 

“ An Inglese, by his thick speech and accent. I hope he will 
not ask for figs for his supper !” 

Clinch was thinking of other things at that moment ; and 
when he continued, it was to follow the train of his own 
thoughts. 

“Have you seen anything of a barone-looking lugger,” 
he asked, “ French-rigged, and French-manned, skulking any- 
where about this coast ?” 

“ Si — she went north, into the Gulf of Gaeta, just as the sun 
was setting, and is, no doubt, gone to anchor under the cannon 
of her countrymen.” 

“ If she has, she’ll find herself in hot water,” answered Clinch, 
in English. “ We’ve craft enough up there, to hoist her in and 


WING-AND-WING. 


397 


dub her down to a jolly-boat’s size, in a single watch. Did you 
see anything of a frigate this evening, near the Point of Campa- 
nella ? — An Inglese, I mean ; a tight six-and-tliirty, with three 
new topsails.” 

“ Si — the light you see here, just in a range with Capri, is at 
her gaff ; we have seen her the whole afternoon and evening. 
In fact, she towed us kindly round the cape, until we got fairly 
into this Bay.” 

“ Then you are the people for me ? — Was there a man hanged 
on board her or not, about sunset ?” 

This question was put with so much interest, that Raoul 
cursed his interrogator in his heart ; imagining that he was 
burning with the wish to learn his own execution. He was 
also now aware that this was the boat which had left the Pro- 
serpine about noon. 

“ I can tell you there was not, s’nore — if that will gladden 
your heart. A man was all ready to be hanged, when Cap- 
tain Cuffe was pleased to order him taken down.” 

“ Just as three heavy guns were fired up at town — was it not 
so?” Clinch eagerly inquired. 

“ Diable ! this man may have been my preserver, after all ! 
— You say true, s’nore ; it was just as three guns were fired up 
at Naples, though I did not know those guns had anything to 
do with the intended execution. Can you tell me if they had ?” 

“ If they had ! — Why I touched them off with my own 
hands ; they were signals made by the admiral to spare poor 
Raoul Yvard, for a few days, at least. I am rejoiced to hear 
that all my great efforts to reach the fleet were not in vain. I 
don’t like this hanging, Mr. Italian.” 

“ S’nore, you show a kind heart, and will one day reap the 
reward of such generous feelings. I wish I knew the name of 
so humane a gentleman, that I might mention him in my pray- 
ers.” 

“ They’ll never fancy that Captain Rule said that ,” muttered 
Ithuel, grinning. 

“ As for my name, friend, it’s no great matter. They call me 


398 


WIN G-AND-WING. 


Clinch, which is a good fast word to sail under, too ; hut it has 
no handle to it, other than of a poor devil of a master’s 
mate ; and that, too, at an age when some men carry broad 
pennants.” 

This was said bitterly, and in English ; when uttered, the 
supposed Italian was wished a “ buona sera,” and the gig pro- 
ceeded. 

“ That is un brave” said Raoul, with emphasis, as they 
departed. “If ever I meet with Monsieur Cleench, he will 
learn that I do not forget his good wishes. Peste ! if there 
were a hundred such men in the British marine, Etooelle, we 
might love it.” 

“ They’re fiery sarpents, Captain Rule, and not to be trusted, 
any on ’em. As for fine words, I might have fancied myself a 
cousin of the king’s, if I’d only put my name to their shipping 
articles. This Mr. Clinch is well enough in the main ; being his 
own worst inimy, in the way of the grog pitcher.” 

“ Boat, ahoy !” shouted Clinch again, now about a hundred 
yards distant, having passed towards the cape. Raoul and 
Ithuel mechanically ceased rowing, under the impression that 
the master’s mate had still something to communicate. 


“Boat, ahoy! — Answer at once, or you’ll hear from me,” 
repeated Clinch. 

“ Aye, aye,” answered another voice, which, in fact, was Yel- 
verton’s ; “ Clinch, is that you ?” 

“ Aye, aye, sir — Mr. Yelverton, is it not ? — I think I know 
the voice, sir.” 

“ You are quite right ; but make less noise — who was that 
you hailed a minute or two since ?” 

Clinch began to answer ; but, as the two gigs were approaching 
each other all the time, they were soon so near as to render it 
unnecessary to speak loud enough to be heard at any distance. 
All this time, Raoul and Ithuel lay on their oars, almost afraid 
to stir the water, and listening with an attention that was nearly 
breathless. They were satisfied that the oars of the English 
were now muffled ; a sign that they were in earnest in the pur- 


WING-AND-WING. 


399 


suit, and bent on making a thorough search. The two gigs 
could not be more than a hundred yards from the yawl, and 
Ithuel knew that they were the two fastest-rowing boats of the 
English fleet — so fast, indeed, that Cuffe and his lieutenants had 
made several successful matches with them, against the officers 
of different vessels. 

“ Hist !” said Ghita, whose heart was in her mouth. “ Oh ! 
Raoul, they come !’’ 

Coming, indeed, were they ; and that with vast velocity. So 
careful, however, was the stroke, that they were within two 
hundred feet of the yawl before Raoul and his companion took the 
alarm, and plunged their own oars again into the water. Then, 
indeed, the gigs might be dimly seen ; though the shadows of 
the land deepened the obscurity of night so far, as to render 
objects at even a less distance quite indistinct. The sudden- 
ness and imminency of the danger appeared to arouse all there 
was of life in Carlo Giuntotardi. He steered, and steered well, 
being accustomed to the office, by living so long on the coast ; 
and he sheered in for the rocks, with the double view of land- 
ing, if necessary, and of getting still deeper within the shadows. 

It was soon evident the English gained. Four oars against 
two were fearful odds ; and it was plainly apparent the yawl 
must be overtaken. 

“ Oh, uncle ! towards the arch and water-cavern of the 
point,” whispered Ghita, whose hands were clasped on her 
breast, as if to keep down her emotions. “ That may yet 
save him !” 

The yawl was in the act of whirling round the rocks which 
form the deep cove on which the Marina Grande of Sorrento 
lies. Carlo caught his niece’s idea, and he kept his tiller hard 
a-port, telling Raoul and Ithuel, at the same time, to take in 
their oars as quick as possible. The men obeyed, supposing it 
was the intention to land and take to the heights for shelter. 
But just as they supposed the boat was about to strike against 
some perpendicular rocks, and Raoul was muttering his surprise 
that such a spot should be chosen to land at, it glided through 


400 


WING-AND-WING. 


a low, natural arch, and entered a little basin as noiselessly as a 
bubble floating in a current. The next minute, the two gigs 
came whirling round the rocks ; one following the shore close 
in, to prevent the fugitives from landing, and the other steering 
more obliquely athwart the bay. In still another minute, they 
had passed a hundred yards ahead, and the sound of their 
movements was lost. 


WIN G-AND-WING, 


401 


CHAPTER XXV. 


“ And chiefly thou, oh spirit, that dost prefer, 

Before all temples, the upright heart and pure, 

Instruct me ; for thou know’st !” 

Milton. 

The spot in which Carlo Giuntotardi had taken refuge, is 
well known on the Sorrentine shore, as the water-cavern at the 
ruins of Queen Joan’s country-house. Cavern it is not, though 
the entrance is beneath a low, natural arch — the basin within 
being open to the heavens, and the place resembling an artifi- 
cial excavation made to shelter boats. Let the origin of this 
little haven be what it may, art could not have devised a more 
convenient or a more perfect refuge than it afforded to our 
fugitives. Once through the arch, they would have been 
effectually concealed from their pursuers under a noon-day sun ; 
nor would any, who were unacquainted with the peculiarities 
of the entrance, dream of a boat’s lying, as it might be, buried 
in the rocks of the little promontory. Neither Ghita nor her 
uncle any longer felt concern ; but the former announced her 
intention to land here, assuring Raoul that she could easily find 
her way into the bridle-path which leads to St. Agata. 

The desperate character of the recent chase, aided by his 
late almost miraculous escape from death, joined to the neces- 
sity of parting from his mistress, rendered our hero melancholy, 
if not moody. He could not ask Ghita to share his dangers 
any longer ; yet he felt, if he permitted her now to quit him, 
the separation might be for ever. Still he made no objection ; 
but, leaving Ithuel in charge of the boat, he assisted Ghita up 
the funnel-like sides of the basin, and prepared to accompany 
her on her way to the road. Carlo preceded the pair, telling 


402 


WING-AND-WING. 


his niece that she would find him at a cottage on the way that 
was well known to both. 

The obscurity was not so great as to render the walking very 
difficult, and Raoul and Ghita pursued their course slowly 
along the rocks, each oppressed with the same sensation of 
regret at parting, though influenced by nearly opposing views 
for the future. The girl took the young man’s arm without 
hesitation ; and there was a tenderness in the tones of her 
voice — as well as in her general manner — that betrayed how 
nearly her heart was interested in what was passing. Still, 
principle was ever uppermost in her thoughts, and she deter- 
mined now to speak plainly, and to the purpose. 

“ Raoul,” she said, after listening to some one of those fer- 
vent declarations of love that were peculiarly agreeable to one 
of her affectionate and sincere nature, even when she most felt 
the necessity of repelling the insinuating suit ; “ there must be 
an end of this. I can never go through again, the scenes I 
have lately witnessed, nor allow you to run such fearful risks. 
The sooner we understand each other, and, I may say, the 
sooner we part, it will be the wiser, and the better for the inte- 
rests of both. I blame myself for suffering the intimacy to last 
so long, and for proceeding so far.” 

“ And this is said by a fervent-souled Italian girl ! — One of 
eighteen years ; — who comes of a region in which it is the boast 
that the heart is even warmer than the sun ; of a race, among 
whom it is hard to find one — oui , even a poor one — who is not 
ready to sacrifice home, country, hopes, fortune, nay, life itself, 
to give happiness to the man who has chosen her from all the 
rest of her sex.” 

“ It would seem to me easy to do all this, Raoul. Si — I 
think I could sacrifice everything you have named, to make you 
happy ! Home I have not, unless the Prince’s Towers can thus 
be called ; country, since the sad event of this week, I feel as if 
I had altogether lost ; of hopes, I have few in this world, with 
which your image has not been connected ; but, those which 
were once so precious to me, are now, I fear, lost ; you know I 


WING-AND-WING. 


403 


have no fortune, to tempt me to stay, or you to follow ; as for 
my life, I fear it will soon be very valueless — am sure it will be 
miserable.” 

“ Then why not decide at once, dearest Ghita, to throw the 
weight of your sorrows on the shoulders of one strong enough 
to bear them ? You care not for dress or gay appearances, and 
can take a bridegroom even with the miserable aspect of a 
lazzarone, when you know the heart is right. You will not 
despise me because I am not decked as I might be for the bridal. 
Nothing is easier than to find an aljtar and a priest among these 
monasteries ; and the hour for saying mass is not very distant. 
Give me a right to claim you, and I will appoint a place of 
rendezvous, bring in the lugger to-morrow night, and carry you 
off in triumph to our gay Provence ; where you will find hearts 
gentle as your own, to welcome you with joy, and call you 
sister.” 

Raoul was earnest in his manner, and it was not possible to 
doubt his sincerity. Though an air of self-satisfaction gleamed 
in his face, when he alluded to his present personal appearance, 
for he well knew all his advantages in that way, in spite of the 
dress of a lazzarone. 

“ Urge me not, dear Raoul,” Ghita answered, though, uncon- 
sciously to herself, she pressed closer to his side, and both sadness 
and love were in the very tones of her voice ; “ urge me not, 
dear Raoul ; this can never be. I have already told you the 
gulf that lies between us ; you will not cross it, to join me, and 
I cannot cross it, to join you. Nothing but that could separate 
us ; but that, to my eyes, grows broader and deeper every hour.” 

u Ah, Ghita, thou deceivest me, and thyself. Were thy feel- 
ings as thou fanciest, no human inducement could lead thee to 

o 7 

reject me.” 

“ It is not a human inducement, Raoul ; it is one above earth, 
and all it holds.” 

“Peste ! — These priests are scourges sent to torment men in 
every shape ! They inflict hard lessons in childhood, teach 
asperity in youth, and make us superstitious and silly in age. 


404 


WING-AND-T7ING. 


I do not wonder that my brave compatriots drove them from 
France ; they did nothing but devour like locusts, and deface the 
beauties of providence.” 

“ Raoul, thou art speaking of the ministers of God !” Ghita 
observed meekly, but in sorrow. 

“ Pardon me, dearest Ghita; I have no patience when I 
remember what a trifle, after all, threatens to tear us asunder. 
Thou pretendest to love me ?” 

“ It is not pretence, Raoul, but a deep, and I fear a painful 
reality.” 

“ To think that a girl so frank, with a heart so tender, and a 
soul so true, will allow any secondary thing to divide her from 
the man of her choice !” 

“ It is not a secondary, but a primary thing, Raoul ; oh ! that 
I could make thee think so. The question is between thee and 
God — were it aught else, thou might’st indeed prevail.” 

“ Why trouble thyself about my religion at all ? Are there 
not thousands of wives who tell their beads, and repeat their 
aves, while their husbands think of anything but heaven ? Thou 
and I can overlook this difference ; others overlook them, and 
keep but one heart between them still. I never would molest 
thee, Ghita, in thy gentle worship.” 

“ It is not thou that I dread, Raoul, but myself,” answered 
the girl, with streaming eyes, though she succeeded in suppress- 
ing the sobs that struggled for utterance. “ 4 A house divided 
against itself cannot stand,’ they say ; how could a heart that 
was tilled with thee find a place for the love it ought to bear 
the author of its being ? When the husband lives only for the 
world, it is hard for the wife to think of heaven as she ought.” 

Raoul was deeply touched with the feeling Ghita betrayed, 
while he was ready to adore her for the confiding sincerity with 
which she confessed his power over her heart. His answer was 
given with seductive tenderness of manner, which proved that 
he was not altogether unworthy of the strange conflict he had 
created in so gentle a breast. 

“ Thy God will never desert thee, Ghita,” he said ; 44 thou 


WING-AND-WING. 


405 


hast nothing to fear as my wife, or that of any other man. 
None but a brute could ever think of molesting thee in thy 
worship, or in doing aught that thy opinions render necessary 
or proper. I would tear the tongue from my mouth, before 
reproach, sneer, or argument, should be used to bring thee 
pain, after I once felt that thou leanedst on me for support. 
All that I have said has come from the wish that thou would’st 
not misunderstand me in a matter that I know thou think’st 
important.” 

“Ah, Raoul, little dost thou understand the hearts of women. 
If thy power is so great over me to-day, as almost to incline me 
from the most solemn of all my duties, what would it become 
when the love of a girl should turn into the absorbing affection 
of a wife! I find it hard, even now, to reconcile the love I 
bear to God, with the strong feeling thou hast created in my 
heart. A year of wedded life would endanger more than I can 
express to you in words.” 

“ And then the fear of losing thy salvation is stronger than 
thy earthly attachments ?” 

“ Nay, Raoul, it is not that. I am not selfish, or cowardly, 
as respects myself, I hope ; nor do I think at all of any punish- 
ment that might follow from a marriage with an unbeliever ; 
what I most apprehend, is being taught to love my God less 
than I feel I now do, or than, as the creature of his mercy, I 
ought.” 

“ Thou speakest as if man could rival the being whom thou 
worshippest. I have always understood, that the love we bear 
the Deity, and that we bear each other, are of a very different 
quality. I can see no necessity for their interfering with each 
other.” 

“ Nothing can be less alike, Raoul ; yet one may impair, if 
not destroy, the other. Oh ! if thou would’st but believe that 
thy Saviour was thy God — if thou could’st but be dead to his 
love, and not active against him, I might hope for better things ; 
but I dare not pledge all my earthly duties to one who is openly 
an enemy of my own great Master and Redeemer.” 


406 


WING-AND-WING. 


“ I will not, cannot deceive thee, Ghita — that I leave to the 
priests. Thou know’st my opinions, and must take me as I am, 
or wholly reject me. This I say, though I feel that disappoint- 
ment, if you persist in your cruelty, will drive me to some 
desperate act, by means of wdiich I shall yet taste of the mercies 
of these English.” 

“ Say not so, Raoul ; be prudent for the sake of your 
country — ” 

“ But not for thine, Ghita ?” 

“ Yes, Raoul, and for mine also. I wish not to conceal how 
much happier I shall be in hearing of your welfare and peace 
of mind. I fear, though an enemy, it will ever give me pleasure 
to learn that thou art victorious. But here is the road, yonder 
the cottage where my uncle waits for me, and we must part. 
Heaven bless thee, Raoul ; my prayers will be full of thee. Do 
not — do not risk more to see me ; but, if — ” The heart of the 
girl was so full, that emotion choked her. Raoul listened 
intently for the next word, but he listened in vain. 

u If what, dear Ghita ? Thou wert about to utter something 
that I feel is encouraging.” 

“ Oh ! how I hope it may be so, my poor Raoul ! I was 
going to add, if God ever touches thy heart, and thou w r ould’st 
stand before his altar, a believer, with one at thy side who is 
ready and anxious to devote all to thee but her love of the 
Being who created her, and her treasures of future happiness, 
seek Ghita ; thou wilt find her thou would’st have.” 

Raoul stretched forth his arms, to clasp the tender girl to his 
bosom ; but, fearful of herself, she avoided him, and fled along 
the path, like one terrified with the apprehension of pursuit. 
The young man paused a moment, half inclined to follow ; then 
prudence regained its influence, and he bethought him of the 
necessity of getting to a place of safety while it was yet night. 
The future was still before him, in hope, and that hope led him 
to look forward to other occasions to press his suit. 

Little, how'ever, did Raoul Yvard, much as he prized her, 
know Ghita Caraccioli. Her nature was full of womanly sensi- 


WING-AND-WING. 


407 


bilities, it is true, and her heart replete with tenderness for him 
in particular ; but the adoration she paid to God was of that 
lasting character which endures to the end. In all she said and 
felt, she was truth itself ; and while no false shame interposed 
to cause her to conceal her attachment, there was a moral 
armor thrown about her purposes that rendered them impregna- 
ble to the assaults of the world. 

Our hero found Ithuel sleeping in the boat, in perfect secu- 
rity. The Granite man thoroughly understood his situation, and 
foreseeing a long row before him, he had quietly lain down 
in the stern-sheet of the yawl, and was taking his rest as tran- 
quilly as he had ever done in his berth on board le Feu-Follet. 
He was even aroused with difficulty, and he resumed the 
oar with reluctance. Before descending the funnel, Raoul had 
taken a survey of the water from the rocks above. He listened 
intently, to catch any sounds that might arise from the English 
boats. But nothing was visible in the obscurity, while distance 
or caution prevented anything from being audible. Satisfied 
that all was safe outside, he determined to row out into the bay, 
and, making a circuit to avoid his enemies, push to the 
westward, in the expectation of finding his lugger in the offing. 
As there was now a considerable land-breeze, and the yawl was 
lightened of so much of her freight, there was little doubt 
of his being able to effect his purpose, so far as getting 
out of sight was concerned, at least, long ere the return of 
light. 

“ Pardie , Etooelle !” Raoul exclaimed, after he had given the 
American jog the third, “ you sleep like a friar who is paid for 
saying masses at midnight. Come, mon ami ; now is our time 
to move ; all is clear outside.” 

“ Well, natur’ they say is a good workman, Captain Rule,” 
answered Ithuel, gaping and rubbing his eyes ; “ and never did 
she turn off a prettier hiding-place than this. One sleeps 
so quietly in it ! Heigho ! I sujDpose the ash must be kept 
moving, or we may yet miss our passage back to France. 
Shove her bows round, Captain Rule ; here is the hole, which is 


408 


W IN G- AND- WING. 


almost as hard to find as it is to thread a needle with a cable. 
A good shove, and she will shoot out into the open water.” 

Raoul did as desired. Ithuel touching the tiller, the yawl 
glided through the opening, and felt the long ground-swell of 
the glorious Bay. The two adventurers looked about them with 
some concern, as they issued from their hiding-place, but the 
obscurity was too deep to bring anything in view on the face of 
the waters. The flashing that occasionally illuminated the sum- 
mit of Vesuvius resembled heat-lightning, and would have 
plainly indicated the position of that celebrated mountain, had 
not its dark outlines been visible, exposing a black mass at the 
head of the Bay. The ragged mountain-tops, behind and 
above Castel a Mare, were also to be traced, as was the 
whole range of the nearer coast, though that opposite Avas only 
discoverable by the faint glimmerings of a thousand lights, that 
were appearing and disappearing, like stars eclipsed, on the other 
side of the broad sheet of placid water. On the Bay itself, little 
could be discerned ; under the near coast, nothing, the shadows 
of the rocks obscuring its borders with a wide belt of darkness. 

After looking around them quite a minute in silence, the men 
dropped their oars and began to pull from under the point, Avith 
the intention of making an offing before they set their little lugs. 

As they came out, the heaA T y flap of canvas, quite near, 
startled their ears, and both turned instinctively to look ahead. 
There, indeed, Avas a vessel, standing directly in, threatening 
even to cross their A T ery track. She was close on a Avind, Avith 
her larboard tacks aboard, and had evidently just shaken every- 
thing, in the expectation of luffing past the point Avithout tacking. 
Could she succeed in this, it Avould be in her poAver to stand on, 
until compelled to go about beneath the very cliffs of the town 
of Sorrento. This was, in truth, her aim ; for again she shook 
all her sails. 

“Peste!” muttered Raoul; “this is a bold pilot — he hugs 
the rocks as if they were his mistress ! We must lie quiet, 
Etooelle, and let him pass ; else he may trouble us.” 

u ’Twill be the wisest, Captain Rule ; though I do not think 


WING-AND-WING. 


409 


him an Englishman. Hark ! The ripple under his bow is like 
that of a knife going through a ripe water-melon.” 

“ Mon Feu-Follet !” exclaimed Raoul, rising and actually 
extending his arms as if to embrace the beloved craft. “ Etooelle, 
they seek us, for we are much behind our time !” 

The stranger drew near fast ; when his outlines became visible, 
there was no mistaking them. The two enormous lugs, the 
little jigger, the hull almost awash, and the whole of the fairy 
form, came mistily into view, as the swift bird assumes color and 
proportion, while it advances out of the depth of the void. The 
vessel was but a hundred yards distant ; in another minute she 
would be past. 

“ Vive la Republique /” said Raoul, distinctly, though he 
feared to trust his voice with a loud hail. 

Again the canvas flapped, and the trampling of feet was heard 
on the luggers deck ; then she came sweeping into the wind, 
within fifty feet of the yawl. Raoul watched the movement ; 
and by the time her way was nearly lost, he was alongside, and 
had caught a rope. At the next instant, he was on board her. 

Raoul trod the deck of his lugger again, with the pride of a 
monarch as he ascends his throne. Certain of her sailing 
qualities, and confident of his own skill, this gallant seaman 
was perfectly indifferent to the circumstance that he was environed 
by powerful enemies. The wind and the hour were propitious, 
and no sensation of alarm disturbed the exultation of that happy 
moment. The explanations that passed between him and his 
first-lieutenant, Pintard, were brief but distinct. Le Feu-Follet 
had kept off the land, with her sails lowered, a trim in which a 
vessel of her rig and lowness in the w r ater would not be visible 
more than five or six miles, until sufficient time had elapsed, 
when she was taken into the Gulf of Salerno, to look for signals 
from the heights of St. Agata. Finding none, she w r ent to sea 
again, as has been stated, sweeping along the coast, in the hope 
of falling in with intelligence. Although she could not be seen 
by her enemies, she saw the three cruisers who were on the 
look-out, and great uneasiness prevailed on board, concerning 

18 


410 


WING-AND-WING. 


the fates of the absentees. On the afternoon of that day, the 
lugger was carried dose in with the north-west side of Ischia, 
which island she rounded at dusk, seemingly intending to anchor 
at Baire, a harbor seldom without allied cruisers. As the wind 
came off the land, however, she kept away, and passing between 
Procida and Mysemrai, she came out into the Bay of Naples, 
about three hours before meeting with Raoul, with the intention 
of examining the whole of the opposite coast, in search of the 
yawl. She had seen the light at the gaff of the Proserpine, and, 
at first, supposed it might be a signal from the missing boat. 
With a view to make sure of it, the lugger had been kept away 
until the night-glasses announced a ship ; when she was hauled 
up on a wind, and had made two or three successive half-boards, 
to weather the point where her captain lay concealed ; the Marina 
Grande of Sorrento being one of the places of rendezvous men- 
tioned by our hero, in his last instructions. 

There was a scene of lively congratulation, and of even pleasing 
emotion, on the deck of the lugger, wRen Raoul so unexpectedly 
appeared. He had every quality to make himself beloved by 
his men. Brave, adventurous, active, generous, and kind-hearted, 
his character rendered him a favorite to a degree that was not 
common even among the people of that chivalrous nation. The 
French mariner will bear familiarity better than his great rival 
and neighbor, the Englishman ; and it was natural with our hero 
to be frank and free with all, whether above him or below him 
in condition. The temperaments to be brought into subjection 
were not as rude and intractable as those of the Anglo-Saxon ; 
and the off-hand, dashing character of Raoul was admirably 
adapted to win both the admiration and the affections of his 
people. They now thronged about him, without hesitation or 
reserve, each man anxious to make his good wishes known, his 
felicitations heard. 

“ I have kept you playing about the fire, camarades, v said 
Raoul, affected by the proofs of attachment he received ; “ but 
we will now take our revenge. There are English boats in chase 
of me, at this moment, under the land ; v T e will try to pick up 


WING-AND-WING. 


411 


one or two of them, by way of letting them know there is still 
such a vessel as le Feu-Follet.” 

An exclamation of pleasure followed ; then an old quarter- 
master, who had actually taught his commander his first lessons 
in seamanship, shoved through the crowd, and put his ques- 
tions with a sort of authority. 

“ Mon capitaine ,” he said, “ have you been near these Eng- 
lish r 

“ Aye, Benoit ; somewhat nearer than I could wish. To own 
the truth, the reason you have not sooner seen me, was, that I 
was passing my time on board our old friend, La Proserpine. 
Her officers and crew would not lose my company, when they 
had once begun to enjoy it.” 

“ Peste ! — mon clier capitaine — were you a prisoner ?” 

“ Something of that sort, Benoit. At least, they had me on 
a grating, with a rope round the neck, and were about to make 
me swing off, as a spy, when a happy gun or two from Nelson, 
up above there, at the town, ordered them to let me go below. 
As I had no taste for such amusements, and wanted to see mon 
cher Feu-Follet, Etooelle and I got into the yawl, and left them ; 
intending to return and be hanged when we can find nothing 
better to do.” 

This account required an explanation, which Raoul gave in a 
very few words, and then the crew were directed to go to their 
stations, in order that the lugger might be properly worked. The 
next minute the sails were filled on the larboard tack, as before, 
and le Feu-Follet again drew ahead, standing in for the cliffs. 

“There is a light in motion near Capri, mon capitaine,” 
observed the first lieutenant ; “ I suppose it to be on board some 
enemy. They are plenty as gulls about this bay.” 

“ You are very right, Monsieur. ’Tis la Proserpine ; she 
shows the light for her boats. She is too far to leeward to med- 
dle with us, however, and we are pretty certain there is nothing 
between her and the ships off the town that can do us any 
harm. Are all our lights concealed ? Let them be well looked 
to, monsieur ” 


412 


WING-AND-WING. 


“All safe, mon capitaine. Le Feu-Follet never shows her 
lantern until she wishes to lead an enemy into the mire !” 

Eaoul laughed, and pronounced the word “ bon ” in the 
emphatic manner peculiar to a Frenchman. Then, as the lugger 
was drawing swiftly in towards the rocks, he went on the fore- 
castle himself, to keep a proper look-out ahead ; Ithuel, as usual, 
standing at his side. 

The piano or plain of Sorrento terminates, on the side of the 
bay, in perpendicular cliffs of tufa, that vary from one to near 
two hundred feet in height. Those near the town are among 
the highest, and are lined with villas, convents, and other dwell- 
ings, of which the foundations are frequently placed upon shelves 
of rock fifty feet below the adjacent streets. Eaoul had been 
often here during the short reign of the Eufo faction, and was 
familiar with most of the coast. He knew that his little lugger 
might brush against the very rocks, in most places, and was 
satisfied that if he fell in with the Proserpine’s boats at all, it 
must be quite near the land. As the night wind blew directly 
down the bay, sighing across the campagna, between Vesuvius 
and Castel a Mare, it became necessary to tack off-shore, as soon 
as le Feu-Follet got close to the cliffs, where the obscurity was 
greatest, and her proportions and rig were not discernible at any 
distance. While in the very act of going round, and before 
the head-sheets were drawn, Eaoul was startled by a sudden 
hail. 

“Felucca, ahoy !” cried one, in English, from a boat that was 
close on the lugger’s bow. 

“ Halloo !” answered Ithuel, raising an arm, for all near him 
to be quiet. 

“ What craft’s that ?” resumed he in the boat. 

i 

“ A felucca sent down by the admiral to look for the Proser- 
pine — not finding her at Capri, we are turning up to the anchor- 
age of the fleet again.” 

“ Hold on a moment, sir, if you please ; I’ll come on board 
you. Perhaps I can help you out of your difficulty ; for I 
happen to know something of that ship.” 


WING-AND-WING. 


413 


“ Aye, aye — bear a hand, if you please ; for we want to 
make the most of this wind while it stands.” 

It is singular how easily we are deceived, when the mind 
commences by taking a wrong direction. Such was now the 
fact with him in the boat, for he had imbibed the notion that 
he could trace the outlines of a felucca, of which so many navi- 
gate those waters, and the idea that it was the very lugger he 
had been seeking, never crossed his mind. Acting under the 
delusion, he was soon alongside, and on the deck of his enemy. 

“ Do you know this gentleman, Etooelle ?” demanded Raoul, 
who had gone to the gangway to receive his visitor. 

“ It is Mr. Clinch, the master’s-mate of the accursed Proser- 
pine ; he who spoke us in the yawl, off the point yonder.” 

“ How !” exclaimed Clinch, his alarm being sufficiently appa- 
rent in his voice ; “ have I fallen into the hands of French- 
men ?” 

“You have, Monsieur,” answered Raoul, courteously, “but 
not into the hands of enemies. This is le Feu-Follet, and I am 
Raoul Yvard.” 

“ Then all hope for Jane is gone for ever ! I have passed a 
happy day, though a busy one, for I did begin to think there 
was some chance for me. A man cannot see Nelson without 
pulling up, and wishing to be something like him ; but a prison 
is no place for promotion.” 

“ Let us go into my cabin, Monsieur. There we can converse 
more at our ease ; and we shall have a light.” 

Clinch was in despair ; it mattered not to him whither he 
was taken. In the cabin he sat the picture of a helpless man, 
and a bottle of brandy happening to stand on the table, he 
eyed it with something like the ferocity with which the hungry 
wolf may be supposed to gaze at the lamb ere he leaps the 
fold. 

“ Is this the gentleman you mean, Etooelle ?” demanded 
Raoul, when the cabin-lamp shone on the prisoner’s face ; “ he 
who was so much rejoiced to hear that his enemy was not 
hanged ?” 


414 


WING-AND-WING. 


“ ’Tis the same, Captain Rule ; in the main, he is a good- 
natured officer — one that does more harm to himself than to 
any one else. They said in the ship, that he went up to Naples 
to do you some good turn or other.” 

“ Bon ! — you have been long in your boat, Mr. Clinch — we 
will give you a warm supper and a glass of wine — after which, 
you are at liberty to seek your frigate, and to return to your 
own flag.” 

Clinch stared as if he did not, or could not, believe what he 
heard — then the truth flashed on his mind, and he burst into 
tears. Throughout that day his feelings had been in extremes, 
hope once more opening a long vista of happiness for the 
future, through the renewed confidence and advice of his cap- 
tain. Thus far he had done well, and it was by striving to do 

still better that he had fallen into the hands of the enemy. 

•/ 

For a single moment the beautiful fabric which revived hopes 
had been industriously weaving throughout the day was torn 
into tatters. The kindness of Raoul’s manner, however, his 
words, and the explanations of Ithuel, removed a mountain 
from his breast, and he became quite unmanned. There is 
none so debased as not to retain glimmerings of the bright 
spirit that is associated with the grosser particles of their mate- 
rial nature. Clinch had in him the living consciousness that he 
was capable of better things, and he endured moments of deep 
anguish, as the image of the patient, self-devoting, and constant 
Jane rose before his mind’s eye to reproach him with his weak- 
nesses. 

It is true that she never made these reproaches in terms ; so 
far from that, she would not even believe the slanders of those 
she mistook for his enemies ; but Clinch could not always quiet 
the spirit within him, and he often felt degraded as he remem- 
bered with how much more firmness Jane supported the load of 
hope deferred, than he did himself. The recent interview with 
Cuffe had aroused all that remained of ambition and self-respect, 
and he had left the ship that morning with a full and manly 
determination to reform, and to make one continued and 


WING-AND’WING, 


415 


persevering effort to obtain a commission, and with it Jane. 
Then followed capture and the moment of deep despair. But 
Raoul’s generosity removed the load, and again the prospect 
brightened. 


* 


416 


WING-AND-WING, 


CHAPTER XXVI, 

“ Oh ! many a dream was in the ship 
An hour before her death ; 

And sight of home, with sighs disturbed 
The sleeper’s long drawn breath.” 

♦ Wilson. 

Raoul soon decided on his course. While he was consoling 
Clinch, orders had been sent to Pintard to look for the other gig ; 
but a few minutes’ search under the cliffs satisfied those on deck 
that she was not to be found ; and the fact was so reported 
below. Nor could all Ithuel’s ingenuity extract from the cap- 
tured boat’s crew any available information on the subject. 
There was an esprit de corps among the Proserpines, as between 
their own ship and le Feu-Follet, which would have withstood, 
on an occasion like this, both threats and bribes ; and he of the 
Granite state was compelled to give the matter up as hopeless ; 
though, in so doing, he did not fail to ascribe the refusal to 
betray their shipmates, on the part of these men, to English 
obstinacy, rather than to any creditable feeling. The disposition 
to impute the worst to those he hated, however, was not peculiar 
to Ithuel or his country ; it being pretty certain he would have 
fared no better on board the English frigate, under circumstances 
at all analogous. 

Satisfied, at length, that the other boat had escaped him, and 
feeling* the necessity of getting out of the Bay while it was still 
dark, Raoul reluctantly gave the order to bear up, and put the 
lugger dead before the wind, wing-and-wing. By the time this 
was done, the light craft had turned so far to windward as to 
be under the noble rocks that separate the piano of Sorrento from 
the shores of Vico ; a bold promontory, that buttresses the sea, 
with a wall of near or quite a thousand feet in perpendicular 


WING-AND-WING. 


417 


height. Here she felt the full force of the land-wind ; and when 
her helm was put up, and her sheets eased off, a bird turning on 
the wing would not have come round more gracefully, and 
scarcely with greater velocity. The course now lay from point 
to point, in order to avoid being becalmed within the indenta- 
tions of the coast. This carried the lugger athwart the cove of 
Sorrento, rather than into it, and, of course, left Yelverton, who 
had landed at the smaller marina, quite out of the line of her 
course. 

So swift was the progress of the little craft, that within fifteen 
minutes after bearing up, Raoul and Ithuel, who again occupied 
their stations on the forecastle, saw the headland where they 
had so lately been concealed, and ordered the helm a-port, in 
order to sheer out and give it a berth. Then rock was passed 
after rock, cove after cove, and village after village, until the 
entrance between Capri and Campanella was again reached. 
In sweeping down the shore in this manner, the intention was 
to pick up any boat that might happen to be in the lugger’s 
track ; for, while Raoul was disposed to let his prisoner go, he 
had a strong desire to seize any other officers of the frigate that 
might fall in his way. The search was ineffectual, however; 
and when the lugger came out into the open sea, all expectation 
of further success, of this nature, was reluctantly abandoned. 

As le Feu-Follet was now in dangerous proximity to three 
cruisers of the enemy, the moment was one that called for 
decision. Fortunately, the positions of the English vessels were 
known to Raoul, a circumstance that lessened the danger, cer- 
tainly ; but it would not do to continue long within a league of 
their anchorage, with the risk of the land breezes failing. As 
yet the darkness, and the shadows of the land, concealed the 
privateer, and her commander determined, if not literally to 
make hay while the sun shone, at least to profit by its absence. 
With this view, then, he ordered the lugger hove-to, the boat of 
Clinch hauled to the lee gangway, and the prisoners to be all 
brought on deck ; the common men in the waist, and the 
master’s mate aft. 


18 * 


418 


WING-AND-WING. 


“ Here I must lose the pleasure of your company, Monsieur 
Clinch,” said Raoul, with a courtesy that may almost be termed 
national. “ We are quite as near votre belle Proserpine as is 
safe, and I lono; for notre belle France. The wind is fair to 
take us off the coast, and two hours will carry us out of sight, 
even were it noon-day. You will have the complaisance to 
make my duty to Monsieur Cuffe — oui, pardie ! and to ces braves 
Italiens , who are so much ze amis of Sir Smees ! Touchez-laB 

Raoul laughed, for his heart was light, and sundry droll con- 
ceits danced through his brain. As for Clinch, the whole was 
Greek to him, with the exception that he understood it was the 
intention of the French to take their vessel off the coast, a cir- 
cumstance that he was not sorry to learn, though he would 
have given so much, a few hours earlier, to have known where 
to find her. Raoul’s generosity had worked a revolution in 
his feelings, however, and nothing was further from his wishes, 
now, than to be employed against the celebrated privateersman. 
Still, he had a duty to perform to the service of which he was a 
member, another to Jane, and a last to himself. 

“ Captain Yvard,” said the master’s-mate, taking the other’s 
offered hand, “ I shall never forget this kindness on your part ; 
it comes at a most fortunate moment for me. My happiness in 
this world, and perhaps in the world to come,” — an ejaculation 
of “ bah ! ” involuntarily escaped the listener — “ depended on 
my being at liberty. I hold it to be fair, however, to tell you 
the whole truth. I must do all I can to capture or destroy this 
very lugger, as well as any other of the king’s enemies, as soon 
as I am my own master again.” 

u Bon ! — I like your frankness, Monsieur Clinch, as much as 
I like your humanity. I always look for a brave enemy when 
un Anglais comes against me ; if you are ever in the number, 
I shall expect nothing worse.” 

a It will be my duty, Captain Yvard, to report to Captain Cuffe 
where I found the Folly, where I left her, and where I think she 
is steering ! Even your armament, crew, and all such little par- 
ticulars, I shall be questioned on ; I must answer honestly.” 


WING-AND-WING. 


419 


u Mon cher , you are ‘ honest fellow,’ as you Anglais say. I 
wish it was noon-day, that you might better see our deck — Le 
Feu-Follet is not ugly, that she should wish to wear a veil. 
Tell everything, Clinch, mon brave ; if Monsieur Cuffe wish to 
send another party against our lugger, come in the first boat en 
per sonne. We shall always be happy to see Monsieur Clinch. 
As for where we steer, you see our head is towards la belle 
France ; and there is plenty of room for a long chase. Adieu , 
mon ami — au revoir 

Clinch now shook hands heartily with all the officers ; again 
expressed his sense of the liberality with which he was treated, 
and this, too, with emotion ; then he followed his people into 
the boat, and pulled away from the lugger’s side, holding his 
course towards the light which was still burning on board the 
Proserpine. At the same time le Feu-Follet filled, and soon 
disappeared from his eyes in the darkness, running off wing- 
and-wing, and steering west, as if really making the best of her 
way towards the Straits of Bonifacio, on her road to France. 

But, in fact, Raoul had no such intention. His cruise was 
not up, and his present position, surrounded as he was with 
enemies, was full of attraction to one of his temperament. Only 
the day before he had appeared in the disguise of a lazzarone, 
he had captured, manned, and sent to Marseilles, a valuable 
store-ship ; and he knew that another was hourly expected in 
the bay. This was an excuse to his people for remaining where 
they were. But the excitement of constantly running the 
gauntlet, the pleasure of demonstrating the superior sailing of 
his lugger, the opportunities for distinction, and every other 
professional motive, were trifling, as compared with the tie 
which bound him to, the feeling that unceasingly attracted him 
towards Ghita. With his love, also, there began to mingle a 
sensation approaching to despair. While Ghita was so gentle, 
and even tender, with him, he had ever found her consistent, 
and singularly firm in her principles. In their recent dialogues, 
some that we have forborne to relate on account of their peculiar 
character, Ghita had expressed her reluctance to trust her fate 


420 ' 


WING-AND-WINO. 


with one whose God was not her God, with a distinctness and 
force that left no doubt of the seriousness of her views, or of her 
ability to sustain them in acts. What rendered her resolution 
more impressive, was the ingenuous manner with which she 
never hesitated to admit Raoul’s power over her affections, 
leaving no pretext for the common-place supposition that the 
girl was acting. The conversation of that night weighed heavily 
on the heart of the lover, and he could not summon sufficient 
resolution to part — perhaps for months — with such an apparent 
breach between him and his hopes. 

As soon as it was known, therefore, that the lugger was far 
enough at sea to be out of sight from the boat of Clinch, she 
came by the wind on the larboard tack again, heading up 
towards the celebrated ruins of Psestum, on the eastern shore of 
the Bay of Salerno. To one accustomed to the sea, there w T ould 
not have seemed sufficient wind to urge even that light craft 
along, at the rate with which she glided through the water. 
But the land breeze was charged with the damps of midnight ; 
the canvas w r as thickened from the same cause ; and the propel- 
ling pow T er had nearly double its apparent force. In an hour 
after hauling up, le Feu-Follet tacked, quite eight miles distant 
from the spot where she altered her direction, and far enough 
to windward to lay her course in directly for the cliffs beneath 
the village of St. Agata, or the present residence of Ghita. In 
proceeding thus, Raoul had a double intention before him. 
English ships were constantly passing between Sicily, Malta, 
and Naples ; and, as those bound north would naturally draw 
in with the land at this point, his position might enable him to 
strike a sudden blow 7 , with the return of day, should any suita- 
ble vessel be in the offing next morning. Then he hoped for a 
signal from Ghita at least — and such things were very dear to 
his heart ; or, possibly, anxiety and affection might bring her 
dowrn to the water-side, when another interview would be possi- 
ble. This w r as the weakness of passion ; and Raoul submitted 
to its power, like feebler-minded and less resolute men, the hero 
becoming little better than the vulgar herd under its influence. 


W I N G - A ND - W I N G . 


421 


The two or three last days and nights had been hours of 
extreme anxiety and care to the officers and crew of the lugger, 
as well as to their commander, and all on board began to feel 
the necessity of sleep. As for Ithuel, he had been in his ham- 
mock an hour ; and Raoul now thought seriously of following 
his example. Giving his instructions to the young lieutenant 
who was in charge of the deck, our hero went below, and in a 
few minutes he was also lost to present hopes and fears. 

Everything seemed propitious to the lugger and the inten- 
tions. of her commander. The wind went down gradually, until 
there was little more than air enough to keep steerage-way on 
the vessel, while the ripple on the water disappeared, leaving 
nothing behind it but the long, heavy ground-swell that always 
stirs the bosom of the ocean, like the heaving respiration of 
some gigantic animal. The morning grew darker, but the sur- 
face of the gulf was glassy and tranquil, leaving no immediate 
motive for watchfulness or care. 

These are the lethargic moments of a seaman’s life. Days 
of toil bring nights of drowsiness ; and the repose of nature 
presents a constant temptation to imitate her example. The 
reaction of excitement destroys the disposition to indulge in the 
song, the jest, or the tale ; and the mind, like the body, is dis- 
posed to rest from its labors. Even the murmuring wash of the 
water, as it rises and falls against the vessel’s sides, N sounds like 
a lullaby, and sleep seems to be the one great blessing of exist- 
ence. Under such circumstances, therefore, it is not surprising 
that the watch on the deck of the lugger indulged this neces- 
sary want. It is permitted to the common men to doze at such 
moments, while a few are on the alert ; but even duty, in the 
absence of necessity, feels its task to be irksome, and difficult of 
performance. Look-out after look-out lowered his head ; the 
young man who was seated on the arm-chest aft began to lose 
his consciousness of present things, in dreamy recollections of 
Provence, his home, and the girl of his youthful admiration. 
The seaman at the helm alone kept his eyes open, and all his 
faculties on the alert. This is a station in which vigilance is 


422 


WING-AND-WING. 


ever required ; and it sometimes happens in vessels where the rigid 
discipline of a regular service does not exist, that others rely so 
much on the circumstance, that they forget their own duties, in 
depending on the due discharge of his, by the man at the wheel. 

Such, to a certain degree, was now the fact on board le Feu- 
Follet. One of the best seamen in the lugger w r as at the helm, 
and each individual felt satisfied that no shift of wind could 
occur, no change of sails become necessary, that Antoine would 
not be there to admonish them of the circumstance. One day 
was so much like another, too, in that tranquil season of the 
year, and in that luxurious sea, that all on board knew the 
regular mutations that the hours produced. The southerly air 
in the morning, the zephyr in the afternoon, and the land wind 
at night, were as much matters of course as the rising and set- 
ting of the sun. No one felt apprehension, while all submitted 
to the influence of a want of rest, and of the drowsiness of the 
climate. 

Not so with Antoine. His hairs were grey. Sleep w r as no 
longer so necessary to him. He had much pride of calling, 
too ; was long experienced, and possessed senses sharpened and 
rendered critical by practice and many dangers. Time and 
again did he turn his eyes towards Campanella, to ascertain if 
any signs of the enemy were in sight ; the obscurity prevented 
anything from being visible but the dark outline of the high 
and rock-bound coast. Then he glanced his eyes over the deck, 
and felt how T completely everything depended on his own vigi- 
lance and faithfulness. The look at the sails and to windward 
brought no cause for uneasiness, however ; and, presuming on 
his isolation, he began to sing, in suppressed tones, an air of 
the Troubadours ; one that he had learned in childhood, in his 
native langue clu midi . Thus passed the minutes until Antoine 
saw the first glimmerings of morning, peeping out of the dark- 
ness, that came above the mountain-tops that lay in the vicinity 
of Eboli. Antoine felt solitary ; he w*as not sorry to greet these 
symptoms of a return to the animation and communion of a 
new day. 


WING-AND-WINGr. 


423 


“ Hist ! mon lieutenant ! ” whispered the old mariner, 
unwilling to expose the drowsiness of his young superior to 
the gaze of the common men ; “ mon lieutenant — ’tis I, An- 
toine/’ 

“Eh! — bah ! — 0/q Antoine , est-ce-que toi ? Bon — what 
would you have, mon ami 

“ I hear the surf, I think, mon lieutenant . Listen — is not 
that the water striking on the rocks of the shore ?” 

“ Jamais ! You see the land is a mile from us; this coast 
has no shoals. The captain told us to stand close in, before we 
hove to or called him. Pardie ! — Antoine, how the little witch 
lias travelled in my watch ! Here we are, within a musket’s 
range from the heights, yet there has been no wind.” 

“ Pardon , mon lieutenant — I do not like that sound of the 
surf ; it is too near for the shore. Will you have the kindness 
to step on the forecastle and look ahead, monsieur ? — the light 
is beginning to be of use.” 

The young man yawned, stretched his arms, and walked for- 
ward ; the first to indulge himself, the first, also, to relieve the 
uneasiness of an old shipmate, whose experience he respected. 
Still his step was not as quick as common, and it was near a 
minute ere he reached the bows, or before he gained the knight- 
heads. But his form was no sooner visible there, than he waved 
his arms frantically, and shouted in a voice that reached the 
recesses of the vessel — 

“ Hard up — hard up with the helm, Antoine — ease off the 
sheets, mes enfans ! ” 

Le Feu-Follet rose on a heavy ground-swell at that moment ; 
in the next she settled down with a shock resembling that 
which we experience when we leap and alight sooner than was 
expected. There she lay cradled in a bed of rocks, as immov- 
able as one of the stones around her ; — stones that had mocked 
the billows of the Mediterranean, within the known annals of 
man, more than three thousand years. In a word, the lugger 
had struck on one of those celebrated islets under the heights 
of St. Agata, known as the Islands of the Sirens, and which are 


424 


WING-AND-WING. 


believed to have been commemorated by the oldest of all the 
living profane writers, Homer himself. The blow was hardly 
given, before Raoul appeared on deck. The vessel gave up all 
that had life in her, and she was at once a scene of alarm, 
activity, and exertion. 

It is at such a moment as this, that the most useful qualities 
of a naval captain render themselves apparent. Of all around 
him, Raoul was the calmest, the most collected, and the best 
qualified to issue the orders that had become necessary. He 
made no exclamations — uttered not a word of reproach — cast 
not even a glance of disapprobation on any near him. The 
mischief was done ; the one thing needful was to repair it, if 
possible, leaving to the future the cares of discipline, and the 
distribution of rewards and punishments. 

11 She is as fast anchored as a cathedral, mon lieutenant,” he 
quietly observed to the very officer through whose remissness 
the accident had occurred ; “ I see no use in these sails. Take 
them in at once ; they may set her further on the rocks, should 
she happen to lift.” 

The young man obeyed, every nerve in his body agitated by 
the sense of delinquency. Then he walked aft, cast one look 
around him at the desperate condition of the lugger, and, with 
the impetuosity of character that belongs to his country, he 
plunged into the sea, from which his body never re-appeared. 
The melancholy suicide was immediately reported to Raoul. 

“ Bon ” — was the answer. “ Had he done it an hour earlier, 
le Feu-Follet would not have been set up on these rocks, like a 
vessel in a ship-yard — mais, mes enfans , courage ! — We’ll yet 
see if our beautiful lugger cannot be saved.” 

If there were stoicism and bitterness in this answer, there was 
not deliberate cruelty. Raoul loved his lugger, next to Gliita, 
before all things on earth ; and, in his eyes, the fault of wreck- 
ing her in a calm was to be classed among the unpardonable 
sins. Still, it was by no means a rare occurrence. Ships, like 
men, are often cast away by an excess of confidence ; and our 
own coast, one of the safest in the known world for the prudent 


WIN6-AND-WING, 


425 


mariner to approach, on account of the regularity of its sound- 
ings, has many a tale to tell of disasters similar to this, which 
have occurred simply because no signs of danger were apparent 
Our hero would not have excused himself for such negligence, 
and that which self-love will not induce us to pardon, will 
hardly be conceded to philanthropy. 

The pumps were sounded, and it was ascertained that the 
lugger had come down so easily into her bed, and lay there 
with so little straining of her seams, that she continued tight as 
a bottle. This left all the hope which circumstances would 
allow, of still saving the vessel. Raoul neglected no useful 
precaution. By this time the light was strong enough to 
enable him to see a felucca coming slow T ly down from Salerno, 
before the wind, or all that was still left of the night air, and he 
despatched Ithuel with an armed boat to seize her, and bring 
her alongside of the rocks. He took this course with the 
double purpose of using the prize, if practicable, in getting his 
own vessel off, or, in the last resort, of making his own escape, 
and that of his people, in her to France. He did not conde- 
scend to explain his motives, however ; nor did any one 
presume to inquire into them. Raoul was now strictly a 
commander, acting in a desperate emergency. He even 
succeeded in suppressing the constitutional volubility of his 
countrymen, and in substituting for it the deep, attentive 
silence of thorough discipline ; one of the great causes of his 
own unusual success in maritime enterprises. To the want of 
this very silence and attention may be ascribed so many of 
those naval disasters which have undeniably befallen a people 
of singular enterprise and courage. Those who wish them well 
will be glad to learn that the evil has been, in a great measure, 
repaired. 

As soon as the boat was sent to seize the felucca, the yawl 
was put into the water, and Raoul himself began to sound 
around the lugger. The rocks of the Sirens, as the islets are 
called to this day, are sufficiently elevated above the surface of 
the sea to be visible at some distance ; though, lying in a line 


426 


WIN G-AND-WING. 


with the coast, it would not have been easy for the look-outs of 

le Feu-Follet to discern them at the hour when she struck, even 

had they been on the alert. The increasing light, however, 

enabled the French fully to ascertain their position, and to 

learn the extent of the evil. The lugger had been lifted into a 

crevice between two of the rocks, by a ground-swell heavier 

than common ; and though there was deep water all around 

her, it would be impossible to get her afloat again without 

lightening. So long as the wind did not blow, and the sea did 

not rise, she was safe enough ; but a swell that should force 

the hull to rise and fall, would inevitably cause her to bilge. 

These facts were learned in five minutes after the vawl was in 

«/ 

the water, and much did Raoul rejoice at having so promptly 
sent Ithuel in quest of the felucca. The rocks were next recon- 
noitred, in order to ascertain what facilities they offered to favor 
the discharging of the vessel’s stores. Some of them were high 
enough to protect articles from the wash of the water, but it is 
at all times difficult to lie alongside of rocks that are exposed to 
the open sea ; the heaving and setting of the element, even in 
calms, causing the elevation of its surface so much to vary. On 
the present occasion, however, the French found less swell than 
common, and that it was possible to get their stores ashore at 
two or three different points. 

Raoul now directed the work to commence in earnest. The 
lugger carried four boats ; viz — a launch, a cutter, the yawl, and 
a jolly-boat. The second had been sent after the felucca, with 
a strong crew in her ; but the three others were employed in 
discharging stores. Raoul perceived at once that the moment 
was not one for half-way measures, and that large sacrifices 
must be made, to save the hull of the vessel. This, and the 
safety of his crew, were the two great objects he kept before 
him. All his measures were directed to that end. The water 
was started in the lugger’s hold by staving the casks, and the 
pumps were set in motion as soon as possible. Provisions of 
all sorts were cast into the sea, for le Feu-Follet had recently 
supplied herself from a prize, and was a little deeper than her 


WING-AND-WING. 


427 


/ 


best trim allowed. In short, everything that could be spared 
was thrown overboard, barely a sufficiency of food and water 
being retained to last the people until they could reach Corsica, 
whither it was their captain’s intention to proceed, the moment 
he got his vessel afloat. 

The Mediterranean has no regular tides, though the w r ater 

rises and falls materially, at irregular intervals ; either the effect 

of gales, or of the influence of the adjacent seas. This circum- 
• 

stance prevented the calamity of having gone ashore at high 
water, while it also prevented the mariners from profiting by 
any flood. It left them, as they had been placed by the acci- 
dent itself, mainly dependent on their own exertions. 

Under such circumstances, then, our hero set about the 
discharge of his responsible duties. An hour of active toil, 
well directed and perseveringly continued, wrought a material 
change. The vessel was small, while the number of hands was 
relatively large. At the end of the time mentioned, the officer 
charged with the duty, reported that the hull moved under the 
power of the heaving sea, and that it might soon be expected 
to strike with a force to endanger its planks and ribs. This 
was the sign to cease discharging, and to complete the prepara- 
tions that had been making for heaving the lugger off, it being 
unsafe to delay that process after the weight was sufficiently 
lessened to allow it. The launch had carried out an anchor, 
and was already returning towards the rocks, paying out cable 
as it came in. But the depth of the water rendered this an 
anxious service, since there was the danger of dragging the 
ground-tackle home, as it is termed, on account of the angle at 
which it lay. 

At this moment, with the exception of the difficulty last 
named, everything seemed propitious. The wind had gone 
down entirely, the southerly air having lasted but a short time, 
and no other succeeding it. The sea was certainly not more 
disturbed than it had been all the morning, which was at its 
minimum of motion, while the day promised to be calm and 
clear. Nothing was in sight but the felucca, and she was not 


428 


WING-AND-WING. 


only in Ithuel’s possession, but she had drawn within half a mile 
of the rocks, and was sweeping still nearer at each instant. In 
ten minutes she must come alongside. Raoul had ascertained 
that there was water enough, where le Feu-Follet lay, to permit 
a vessel like his prize to touch her ; and many things lay on 
deck, in readiness to he transferred to this tender, previously to 
beginning to heave. The rocks, too, were well garnished with 
casks, cordage, shot, ballast, and such other articles as could be 
come at — the armament and ammunition excepted. These last 
our hero always treated with religious care, for in all he did 
there was a latent determination resolutely to defend himself. 
But there were no signs of any such necessity’s being likely to 
occur, and the officers began to flatter themselves with their 
ability to get their lugger afloat, and in sailing trim, before the 
usual afternoon’s breeze should set in. In waiting, therefore, 
for the arrival of the felucca, and, in order that the work might 
meet with no interruption when the men once began to heave, 
the people were ordered to get their breakfasts. 

This pause in the proceedings gave Raoul an opportunity to 
look about him, and to reflect. Twenty times did he turn his 
eyes anxiously towards the heights of St. Agata, where there 
existed subjects equally of attraction and apprehension. It is 
scarcely necessary to say that the first was Ghita ; while the 
last arose from the fear that some curious eye might recognise 
the lugger, and report her condition to the enemies known to 
be lying at Capri, only a league or two on the other side of the 
hills. But all was seemingly tranquil there, at that early hour; 
and the lugger making very little show when her canvas was 
not spread, there w T as reason to hope that the accident was as 
yet unseen. The approach of the felucca would probably betray 
it; though the precaution had been taken to order Ithuel to 
show no signs of national character. 

Raoul Yvard was a very different man, at this moment of 
leisure and idleness, from what he had been a few hours earlier. 
Then he trod the deck of his little cruiser with some such feel- 
ings as the man who exults in his strength, and rejoices in his 


WING-AND-WING. 


429 


youth. Now he felt as all are apt to feel who are rebuked by 
misfortunes and disease. Nevertheless, his character had lost 
none of its high chivalry ; and even there, as he sat on the 
taffrail of the stranded Feu-Follet, he meditated carrying some 
stout Englishman by surprise and boarding, in the event of his 
not succeeding in getting off the lugger. The felucca would 
greatly aid such an enterprise ; and his crew was strong 
enough, as well as sufficiently trained, to promise success. 

On such an expedient, even, was he ruminating, as Ithuel, in 
obedience to an order given through the trumpet, brought his 
prize alongside, and secured her to the lugger. The men who 
had accompanied the American were now dismissed to their 
morning’s meal, while Raoul invited their leader to share his 
frugal repast where he sat. As the two broke their fasts, ques- 
tions were put and answered, concerning what had occurred 
during the hour or two the parties had been separated. Raoul’s 
tale w r as soon told ; and then he learned with concern that 
the crew of the felucca had taken to their boat, and escaped to 
the landing of the Scaricatojo, on finding that the capture of 
their vessel was inevitable. This proved that the character of 
the wreck was known, and left but little hope that their situa- 
tion would not be reported to the English, in the course of the 
morning. 


430 


WINO-AND-WING, 


CHAPTER XXVII. 


“ But now lead on ; 

In me is no delay ; with thee to go, 

Is to stay here : with thee here to stay, 

Is to go hence unwilling ; thou to me 

Art all things under heaven, all places thou.” 

Milton. 


The intelligence communicated by Ithuel essentially altered 
Raoul’s views of his actual situation. An active man might go 
from the Marinella, at the foot of the Scaricatojo, or the place 
where the crew of the felucca had landed, to the Marina Grande 
of Sorrento in an hour. At the latter beach, boats were always 
to be found, and two hours more would carry the messenger, by 
water, to the ships off Capri, even in a calm. The first of these 
important hours had now elapsed some time ; and he could not 
doubt that vigorous arms were already employed in pulling 
across the few r leagues of water that separated the island from 
the shores of Sorrento. The day was calm, it is true ; and it 
would be impossible to move the ships ; but two frigates and a 
heavy sloop-of-war might send such a force against him in boats, 
as, in his present situation, would render resistance next to 
hopeless. 

Raoul ceased eating, and, standing on the taffrail, he cast 
anxious looks around him. His sturdy followers, ignorant of all 
the dangers by which the}' were environed, were consuming 
their morning’s meal with the characteristic indifference to 
danger that marks the ordinary conduct of seamen. Even 
Ithuel, usually so sensitive on the subject of English power, and 
who had really so much to apprehend, should he again fall into 
the hands of the Proserpines, was masticating his food with the 
keen relish of a man who had been hard at work the whole 


WING-AND-WING. 


431 


morning. All appeared unconscious of their critical condition ; 
and to Raoul it seemed as if the entire responsibility rested on 
his own shoulders. Fortunately, he was not a man to shrink 
from his present duties ; and he occupied the only leisure 
moment that would be likely to offer that day, in deliberating 
on his resources, and in maturing his plans. 

The armament still remained in the lugger, but it was doubt- 
ful if she would float without removing it ; and, admitting this 
necessity, the question arose of what was to be done with it, in 
order to render it available, in the event of an attack. Two, or 
even four of the light guns might be worked on the decks of the 
felucca ; and here he determined they should be immediately 
placed, with a proper supply of cartridges and shot. Twenty 
men thrown into that light craft, which Ithuel reported as sailing 
and sweeping well, might prove of the last importance. Then 
one of the islets had a ruin on it, of what was believed to be an 
ancient temple. It is true, these ruins were insignificant, and 
scarcely visible at any distance ; but, on a close examination, 
and by using some of the displaced stones with judgment, it 
was possible to entrench a party behind them, and make a stout 
resistance against light missiles, or such as boats would most 
probably use. Raoul got into the yawl, and sculled himself to 
this spot, examining the capabilities with care and judgment. 
After this, his mode of proceeding was matured to his own 
satisfaction. 

The usual time had been consumed, and the hands were 
“turned to;’ 7 each officer receiving the orders necessary to the 
discharge of the duty confided to his particular superintendence. 
As Ithuel had captured the felucca, Raoul felt it right to intrust 
him with the command of the prize. He was directed to take 
on board the armament and ammunition necessary to a defence, 
to mount the guns in the best manner he could, and to make 
all the other fighting preparations ; while another gang struck 
into the felucca’s hold such articles from the lugger as it was 
desirable to save. 

Another party, under the first-lieutenant, landed the remainder 


432 


WING - AND - WING. 


of the light carronades, pieces of twelve pounds only, with the 
proper stores, and commenced the arrangements to place them 
in battery among the ruins. A small supply of food and water 
was also transferred to this islet. 

While these dispositions were in progress, Raoul himself, 
assisted by his sailing-master, prepared to heave the lugger off 
the rod this, at present the most important duty, our 

hero gave hi- personal inspection ; for it required skill, judg- 
ment, and caution. The physical force of the crew was reserved 
to aid in the attempt. At length everything was ready, and 
the instant had arrived when the momentous trial was to be 
made. The lugger had now been ashore quite four hours, and 
the sun had been up fully three. By this time, Raoul calculated 
that the English, at Capri, knew r of his misfortune, and little 
leisure remained in which to do a vast deal of work. The hands 
were all summoned to the bars, therefore, and the toil of heav- 
ing commenced. 

As soon as the cable got the strain, Raoul felt satisfied that 
the anchor would hold. Fortunately, a fluke had taken a rock, 
a circumstance that could be known only by the result ; but, so 
long as the iron held together, there was no danger of that 
material agent’s failing them. The last part of the process of 
lightening was now performed as rapidly as possible, and then 
came the trial-heave at the bars. Every effort was fruitless, 
however, inch being gained after inch, until it seemed as if the 
hemp of the cable were extending its minutest fibres, without 
the hull’s moving any more than the rocks on which it lay. 
Even the boys were called to the bars ; but the united force of 
all hands, the officers included, produced no change. There 
was an instant when Raoul fancied his best course would be to 
set fire to the hulk, get on board the felucca, and sweep off to 
the southward, in season to avoid the expected visit from the 
English. He even called his officers together, and laid the 
proposition before them. But the project was too feebly urged, 
and it met with too little response in the breasts of his auditors 
to be successful. The idea of abandoning that beautiful and 


WING-AND-WING. 


433 


faultless little craft was too painful, while the remotest hope of 
preserving it remained. 

Raoul had measured his hours with the accuracy of a pru- 
dent general. It was now almost time for the English boats to 
appear, and he began to hope that. the Neapolitans had made 
the great mistake of sending their information to the fleet off 
Naples, rather than carrying it to the ships at CV hi. Should 
it prove so, he had still the day before him, and ' might retire 
under cover of the night. At all events, the lugger could not 
be abandoned without an enemy in sight, and the people were 
again called to the bars for a renewed effort. As water might 
be obtained at a hundred points on the coast, and the distance 
to Corsica was so small, the last gallon had been started and 
pumped out, during the recent pause. 

Our hero felt that this was the final effort. The hold of le 
Feu-Follet was literally empty, and all her spare spars were 
floating among the rocks. If she could not be started now, he 
did not possess the means to get her off. The anchor held ; 
the cable, though stretched to the utmost, stood ; and every 
creature but himself was at the bars. The ground-swell had 
been lessening all the morning, and little aid was now to be 
had from the rising of the water. Still, that little must be 
obtained ; without it, the task seemed hopeless. 

“ Get ready, men,” cried Raoul, as he paced the taffrail, “ and 
heave at the word. We will wait for a swell, then strain every 
nerve till something part. Pas encore , mes enfans — pas encore ! 
Stand by ! — Yonder comes a fellow who will lift us — heave a 
strain — heave harder — heave, body and soul ! — heave, alto- 
gether ! ” 

The men obeyed. First they hove a gentle strain ; then the 
effort was increased; and, obedient to the order, just as the 
ground-swell rolled under the lugger’s bottom, they threw out 
their utmost strength, and the hull started for the first time. 
This was encouraging, though the movement did not exceed six 
inches. It was a decided movement, and was made in the right 
direction. This success nerved the people to an increased effort. 

19 

> v 


434 


WING-AND-WING. 


It was probable that, at the next strain, they would throw a 
tenth more impetus into their muscles. Of all this Raoul was 
aware, and he determined not to let the feeling flag. 

“ Encore , mes enfans ! ” he said. “ Heave, and get ready ! 

Re watchful — now’s your time ! Heave, and rip the planks off 
the lugger's bottom — heave, men, heave ! ’’ 

This time the effort answered to the emergency ; the swell 
rolled in, the men threw out their strength, a surge was felt, it 
was followed up by a strain, and le Feu-Follet shot off her bed 
into deep water, rolling, for want of ballast, nearly to her ham- 
mock-cloths. She soon lay directly over her anchor. 

Here was success ! — triumphant success ; and that at a mo- 
ment when the most sanguine had begun to despair. The men 
embraced each other, showing a hundred manifestations of 
extravagant joy. The tears came to Raoul’s eyes ; but he had 
no opportunity of concealing them, every officer he had pressing 
around him to exchange felicitations. The scene was one of 
happy disorder. It had lasted two or three minutes, when 3 
Ithuel, always cold and calculating, edged his way through the 
throng to his commander’s side, and pointed significantly in the 
direction of Campanella. There, indeed, w^as visible a division 
of the expected boats. It was pulling towards them, having 
that moment doubled the cape ! 

Ithuel’s gesture was too significant to escape attention, and 
every eye followed its direction. The sight was of a nature not J 
to be mistaken. It at once changed the current of feeling in all 
who beheld it. There was no longer a doubt concerning the 
manner in which the news of the accident had travelled, or of 
its effect on the English at Capri. In point of fact, the padrone 
of the captured felucca, with a sole eye to the recovery of his 
vessel, had ascended the Scaricatojo, after landing at the Mari- 
nella, at its foot, as fast as his legs could carry him ; had rather 
run, than glided, along the narrow lanes of the piano and the 
hill-side to the beach of Sorrento ; had thrown himself into a 
boat, manned by four lusty Sorrentine watermen — and Europe 
does not contain lustier or bolder ; had gone on board the Terp- 


WING-AND-WING. ' ' 


435 


sichore, and laid his case before Sir Frederick Dash wood, igno- 
rant of the person of the real commanding officer among the 
three ships. The young baronet, though neither very wise nor 
very much experienced in his profession, was exceedingly well 
disposed to seek distinction. It immediately occurred to his 
mind, that the present was a fitting opportunity to gain laurels. 
He was second in rank present, and, in virtue of that claim, he 
fancied that the first could do no more than send him in com- 
mand of the expedition, which he rightly foresaw Cuffe would 
order against the French. But there arose a difficulty. As 
soon as Sir Frederick reported the nature of the intelligence he 
had received to his senior captain, and his own wish to be 
employed on the occasion, the rights of Winchester interposed 
to raise a question. Cuffe was prompt enough in issuing an 
order for each ship to man and arm two boats, making six in 
all, and in giving the necessary details, but he lost some pre- 
cious time in deciding who was to command. This was the 
cause of delay, and had given rise to certain hopes in Raoul, 
that facts were subsequently to destroy. In the end, Sir Frede- 
rick prevailed, his rank giving him a decided advantage ; and 
the division of boats that was now approaching was under his 
orders. 

Raoul saw he had rather more than an hour to spare. To 
fight the felucca, unsupported, against so many enemies, and 
that in a calm, was quite out of the question. That small, low 
craft might destroy a few of her assailants, but she would 
inevitably be carried at the first onset. There was not time to 
get the ballast and other equipments into the lugger, so as to 
render her capable of a proper resistance ; nor did even she 
offer the same advantages for a defence, unless in quick motion, 
as the ruins. It was determined, therefore, to make the best 
disposition of the two vessels that circumstances would allow, 
while the main dependence should be placed on the solid 
defences of stone. With this end, Ithuel was directed to haul 
his felucca to a proper berth ; the first-lieutenant was ordered 
to get as much on board le Feu-Follet as possible, in readiness 


436 


WING-AND-WING. 


to profit by events ; while Raoul himself, selecting thirty of his 
best men, commenced preparing the guns on the rocks for 
active service. 

A single half-hour wrought a material change in the state of 
things. Ithuel had succeeded in hauling the felucca into a 
berth among the islets, where she could not easily be approach- 
ed by boats, and where her carronades might be rendered ex- 
ceedingly useful. Much of the ballast was again on board the 
lugger, and a few of her stores, sufficient to render her tolerably 
stiff, in the event of a breeze springing up ; and Raoul had 
directed the two inside guns of the felucca to be sent on board 
her and mounted, that she might assist in the defence with a 
flanking fire. The great difficulty which exists in managing a 
force at anchor, is the opportunity that is given the assailant of 
choosing his point of attack, and by bringing several of the 
vessels in a line, cause them to intercept each other’s fire. In 
order to prevent this as much as in his power, Raoul placed 
his two floating-batteries out of line, though it was impossible 
to make such a disposition of them as would not leave each 
exposed, on one point of attack, in a degree greater than any 
other. Nevertheless, the arrangement was so made, that either 
a vessel or the ruins might aid each craft respectively against 
the assault on her weakest point. 

When his own guns were ready, and the two vessels moored, 
Raoul visited both the lugger and felucca, to inspect their pre- 
parations, and to say a cheerful word to their men. He found 
most things to his mind ; where they were not, he ordered 
changes to be made. With the lieutenant, his conversation was 
brief, for that officer was one who possessed much experience in 
this very sort of warfare, and could be relied on. With Ithuel, 
he was more communicative ; not that he distrusted the citizen 
of the Granite state, but that he knew him to be a man of 
unusual resources, could the proper spirit be aroused within 
him. 

“ Bien , Etooelle,” he said, when the inspection was ended, 
u much will depend on the use you make of these two guns.” 


WING-AND-WING, 


437 


“I know that, as well as you do yourself, Captain Rule,” 
answered the other, biting* off at least two inches from half a 
yard of pig-tail ; “ and, what ’s more, I know that I light with 
a rope round my neck. The spiteful devils will hardly overlook 
all that’s passed; and though it will be dead ag’in all law, 
they ’ll work out their eends on us both, if we don’t work out 
our eends on them. To my mind, the last will be the most 
agreeable, as well as the most just.” 

“ Bon ! — Do not throw away your shot, Etooelle.” 

“ I — why, Captain Rule, I ’m nat Tally economical. That 
would be wasteful, and waste I set down for a sin. The only 
place I calculate on throwing the shot, is into the face and eyes 
of the English. For my part, I wish Nelson himself was in 
one of them boats — I wish the man no harm ; but I do wish he 
was in one of them very boats.” 

“ And, Etooelle, I do not. It is bad enough as it is, entre 
nous ; and Nelson is very welcome to stay on board his 
Foudroyant ; voild ! — The enemy is in council ; we shall 
soon hear from them. Adieu, mon ami ; remember our two 
Rfyubliques /” 

Raoul squeezed Ithuel’s hand, and entered his boat. The 
distance to the ruin was trifling, but it was necessary to make a 
small circuit in order to reach it. While doing this, the young 
mariner discovered a boat pulling from the direction of the 
marinella, at the foot of the Scaricatojo, which had got so near, 
unseen, as, at first, to startle him by its proximity. A second 
look, however, satisfied him that no cause of apprehension 
existed in that quarter. His eye could not be deceived. The 
boat contained Ghita and her uncle ; the latter rowing, and 
the former seated in the stern, with her head bowed to her 
knees, apparently in tears. Raoul was alone, sculling the light 
yawl with a single hand, and he exerted himself to meet these 
unexpected, and, in the circumstances, unwelcome visitors, as 
far as possible from the rocks. Presently the two boats lay 
side by side. 

“ What means this, Ghita !” the young man exclaimed ; “ do 


438 


WING-AND-WING. 


you not see the English, yonder, at this momen making their 
preparations to attack us ? In a few minutes we shall be in the 
midst of a battle, and thou here !” 

“ I see it all, now, Raoul,” was the answer, “ though we 
did not on quitting the shore ; but we would not turn back, 
having once come upon the Bay. I was the first in St. Agata 
to discover the evil that had befallen thee ; from that moment 
I have never ceased to entreat my uncle, until he has consented 
to come hither.” 

“ With what motive, Ghita ?” asked Raoul, with sparkling 
eyes — “ at length thou relentest — wilt become my wife ! In 
my adversity, thou rememberest thou art a woman !” 

“ Not exactly that, dear Raoul ; but I cannot desert thee, 
altogether, in this strait. The same objection exists now, I fear, 
that has ever existed to our union ; but that is no reason I 
should not aid thee. We have many friends along the heights, 
here, who will consent to conceal thee ; and I have come to 
carry thee and the American to the shore, until an opportunity 
offer to get thee to thine own France.” 

u What ! desert ces braves , Ghita, at a moment like this ! — 
Not to possess thy hand, dearest girl, could I be guilty of an 
act so base.” 

“ Thy situation is not theirs. The condemnation to death 
hangs over thee, Raoul; shouldst thou again fall into English 
hands, there will be no mercy for thee.” 

“ Assez — this is no moment for argument. The English are 
in motion, and there is barely time for thee to get to a safe 
distance ere they begin to fire. Heaven bless thee, Ghita ! 
This care of thine draws my heart to thee closer than ever ; 
but we must now separate. Signor Giuntotardi, pull more 
towards Amalfi. I see that the English mean to attack us from 
the side of the land — pull more towards Amalfi.” * 

“ Thou tellest us this in vain, Raoul,” Ghita quietly, but 
firmly answered. “ We have not come here on an unmeaning 
errand — if thou refusest to go with us, we will remain with thee. 
These prayers, that thou so despises t, may not prove useless.” 


WING-AND-WING. 


439 


“ Ghita ! — this can never be. We are without cover — 
almost without defences — our vessel is unfit to receive thee, 
and this affair will be very different from that off* Elba. Thou 
would’st not willingly distract my mind with care for thee, at 
such a moment !” 

“ We will remain, Raoul. There may come a moment when 
thou wilt be glad to have the prayers of believers. God leadeth 
us hither, either to take thee away, or to remain, and look to 
thy eternal welfare, amid the din of war.” 

Raoul gazed at the beautiful enthusiast, with an intensity of 
love and admiration, that even her truthful simplicity had never 
before excited. Her mild eyes were kindling with holy ardor, 
her cheeks were flushed, and something like the radiance of 
heaven seemed to beam upon her countenance. The young 
man felt that time pressed ; he saw no hope of overcoming her 
resolution, in season to escape the approaching boats ; and it 
might be, that the two would be safer in some nook of the 
ruins, than in attempting to return to the shore. Then, that 
never-dying but latent wish to have Ghita with him, aided his 
hasty reasoning, and he decided to permit the girl and her 
uncle to come upon the islet, that he was to defend in 
person. 

Some signs of impatience had begun to manifest themselves 
among his people, ere Raoul made up his mind to the course 
he would follow. But, when he landed, supporting Ghita, that 
chivalry of character, and homage to the sex, which dis- 
tinguish the southern Frenchman, changed the current of 
feeling, and their two acquaintances were received with accla- 
mation. The act of self-devotion seemed heroic, and that is 
always enough to draw applause among a people so keenly 
alive to glory. Still, the time to make the necessary dis- 
positions was short. Fortunately, the surgeon had taken his 
post on this islet, as the probable scene of the warmest conflict ; 
and he had contrived to make his preparations to receive the 
hurt, in a cavity of the rock behind a portion of the ruin, where 
the person would be reasonably safe. Raoul saw the ad van- 


440 


WING-AND-WING. 


tages of this position, and he led Ghita and her uncle to it 
without pausing to deliberate. Here he tenderly embraced the 
girl, a liberty Ghita could not repel at such a moment ; then he 
tore himself away to attend to duties which had now become 
urgently pressing. 

In point of fact, Sir Frederick Dashwood had made his 
dispositions, and was advancing to the assault, being already 
within the range of grape. For the obvious reason of prevent- 
ing the French from attempting to escape to the shore, he chose 
to approach from that side himself — an arrangement that best 
suited Raoul ; who, foreseeing the probability of the course, 
had made his own preparations with an eye to such an 
event. 

Of boats, there were eight in sight, though only seven were 
drawing near, and were in line. Six had strong crews, were 
armed, and were evidently fitted for action. Of these, three 
had light boat-guns in their bows, while the other three carried 
small-arms-men only. The seventh boat was the Terpsichore’s 
gig, with its usual crew, armed ; though it was used by the 
commanding officer himself as a sort of cheval de bataille , in 
the stricter meaning of the term. In other words, Sir Frederick 
Dashwood pulled through the line in it, to give his orders and 
encourage his people. The eighth boat, which kept aloof, 
quite out of the range of grape, was a shore craft, belonging to 
Capri, in which Andrea Barrofaldi and Vito Viti had come, 
expressly to witness the capture or destruction of their old 
enemy. When Raoul was taken in the Bay of Naples, these 
two worthies fancied that their mission was ended — that they 
might return with credit to Porto Ferrajo, and again hold up 
their heads, with, dignity and self-complacency, among the 
functionaries' of the island. But the recent escape, and the 
manner in which they had been connected with it, entirely 
altered the state of things. A new load of responsibility rested 
on their shoulders ; fresh opprobrium was to be met and put 
down ; and the last acquisition of ridicule promised to throw 
the first proofs of their simplicity and dulness entirely into the 


WING-AND-WING. 


441 


shade. Had not Griffin and his associates been implicated in 
the affair, it is probable the vice-governatore and the podesta 
would have been still more obnoxious to censure ; but as things 
were, the sly looks, open jests and oblique inuendoes of all 
they met in the ship, had determined the honest magistrates to 
retire to their proper pursuits on terra firm a, at the earliest 
occasion. In the meantime, to escape persecution, and to 
obtain a modicum of the glory that was now to be earned, they 
had hired a boat, and accompanied the expedition, in the cha- 
racter of amateurs. It formed no part of their plan, however, 
to share in the combat ; a view of its incidents being quite as 
much, as Vito Viti strongly maintained when his friend made a 
suggestion to the contrary, as was necessary to vindicate their 
conduct and courage in the judgment of every Elban. 

“ Cospetto !” he exclaimed, in the warmth of opposition — • 
“ Signor Andrea, your propositions are more in the spirit of an 
unreflecting boy, than in that of a discreet vice-governatore. If 
we take swords and muskets into the boat, as you appear to 
wish, the devil may tempt us to use them ; and what does 
either of us know of such things ? The pen is a more befitting 
weapon for a magistrate than a keen-edged sword or a foul- 
smelling piece of fire-arms. I am amazed that your native 
sensibilities do not teach you this. There is an indecency in 
men’s mistaking their duties ; and of all things on earth, heaven 
protect me from falling into such an error ! A false position is 
despicable.” 

“Thou art warm, friend Vito, and that without occasion. 
For my part, I think men should be prepared for any emergency 
that may happen. History is full of examples in which civilians 
and scholars — aye, even churchmen — have distinguished them- 
selves by feats of arms, on proper occasions ; and I confess to a 
philosophical curiosity to ascertain the sensations with which 
men seek and expose life.” 

“That’s your besetting weakness, Signor Andrea, and the 
emergency drives me so far to lose sight of the respect that a 
podesta owes to a vice-governatore, as to feel constrained to tell 

19 * 


V 


442 


WIN&-AND-WING. 


you as much. Philosophy plays the very devil with your 
judgment. With about half of what you possess, the Grand 
Duke couldn’t boast of a more sensible subject. As for history, 
I don’t believe anything that’s in it ; more especially since the 
nations of the north have begun to write it. Italy once had 
histories, but where are they now ? For my part, I never heard 
of a man’s fighting who w^as not regularly bred to arms, unless 
it might be some fellow who had reason to wish he had never 
been born.” 

“ I can name you several men of letters, in particular, whose 
fame as soldiers is only eclipsed by that earned by their more 
peaceful labors, honest Yito ; Michael Angelo Buonarotti, for 
instance, to say nothing of various warlike popes, cardinals, and 
bishops. But we can discuss this matter after the battle is over. 
Thou seest the English are already quitting their ships, and we 
shall be in the rear of the combatants.” 

“ So much the better, Corpo di Bacco ! Who ever heard of 
an army that carries its brains in its head, like a human being ? 
No, no, Signor Andrea ; I have provided myself with a string 
of beads, which I intend to count over, with aves and paters, 
while the firing lasts, like a good Catholic. If you are so hot, 
and bent on making one in this battle, you may proclaim in a 
loud voice one of the speeches of the ancient consuls and gene- 
rals, such as you will find them in any of the old books.” 

Vito Yiti prevailed. The Yice-governatore was obliged to 
leave the arms behind him, and this, too, without making any 
great difference in the result of the day’s fighting, inasmuch as 
the boatmen employed, in addition to asking a triple price for 
their time and labor, obstinately refused to go nearer to the 
French than half a league. Distant as this was, however, 
Raoul, while reconnoitring the enemy with a glass, detected the 
presence of the two Elbans. He laughed outright at the disco- 
very, notwithstanding the many serious reflections that naturally 
pressed upon his mind at such a moment. 

But this was not the time to indulge in merriment, and the 
countenance of our hero almost immediately resumed its look 


WING-AND-WING. 


443 


of care. Now that he felt certain of the manner in which the 
English intended to assail him, he had new orders to give to all 
his subordinates. As has been said, the principal point was to 
make the different guns support each other. In order to do 
this effectually, it became necessary to spring the lugger’s 
broadside round more obliquely towards the felucca; which 
accomplished, Raoul deemed his arrangements complete. 

Then followed the pause which ordinarily prevails between 
preparation and the battle. This, in a vessel, is always a period 
of profound and solemn stillness. So important to concert, 
order, and intelligent obedience, in the narrow compass, and 
amid the active evolutions of a ship, does silence become at 
such moments, that one of the first duties of discipline is to 
inculcate its absolute necessity ; and a thousand men shall be 
seen standing in their batteries, ready to serve the fierce engines 
of war, without a sound arising among them all, of sufficient 
force to still the washing of the gentlest waves. It is true, the 
French were not now strictly arrayed for a naval action ; but 
they carried into the present conflict the habits and discipline 
of the peculiar branch of service to which they belonged. 


444 


WING-AND-WING. 


CHAPTER XXVIII. 

“ His back against a rock he bore, 

And firmly placed his foot before ; — 

‘ Come one, come all ! this rock shall fly 
From its firm base as soon as I !’ ” 

Lady of the Lake. 

Our battle will be told with greater clearness, if the reader is 
furnished with an outline of its order. As has been more than 
once intimated already, Sir Frederick Dash wood had made all 
his preparations to commence the assault from the side of the 
land, the object being to prevent a retreat to the shore. Raoul 
had foreseen the probability of this, and, with a special view to 
prevent the two vessels from being easily boarded, he had caused 
both to be placed in such positions as left low barriers of rocks 
between them and that quarter of the bay. These rocks were 
portions that were not visible at any distance, being j ust awash, 
as it is termed, or on a level with the surface of th e water ; 
offering the same sort of protection against an attack in boats, 
that ditches afford in cases of assaults on terra firma . This was 
a material advantage to the expected defence, and our hero 
showed his discrimination in adopting it. On board the felucca, 
which was named the Holy Michael, was Ithuel with fifteen men, 
and two twelve-pound carronades, with a proper supply of small- 
arms and ammunition. The Granite-man was the onlv officer, 

though he had with him three or four of the lugger’s best men. 

• 

Le Feu-Follet was confided to the care of Jules Pintard, her 
first-lieutenant, who had under his immediate orders some five- 
and-twenty of the crew, to work four more of the carronades. 
The lugger had a part only of her ballast in, and something like 
a third of her stores. The remainder of both still lay on the 
adjacent rocks, in waiting for the result of the day. She was 


WINGr-AND-WINGr. 


445 


thought, however, to be sufficiently steady for any service that 
might be expected of her while moored, and might even have 
carried whole sail, in light winds, with perfect safety. All four 
of her guns were brought over on one side, in readiness to use 
in battery in the same direction. By this arrangement the 
French essentially increased their means of defence, bringing all 
their artillery into use at the same time ; an expedient that 
could not have been adopted had they been fought in broadside. 

Raoul had planted among the ruins the remaining four guns. 
With the aid of a few planks, the breechings, tackles, and other 
appliances of a vessel, this had been easily effected ; and, on 
reviewing his work, he had great confidence in the permanency 
of his pieces. The ruins themselves were no great matter ; at a 
little distance they were scarcely perceptible ; though, aided by 
the formation of the natural rock, and by removing some of the 
stones to more favorable positions, they answered the purpose of 
the seamen sufficiently well. The carronades were placed en 
barbette ; but a falling of the surface of the rock enabled the 
men to cover even their heads, by stepping back a few feet. 
The danger would be much the greatest to those whose duty it 
would be to reload. 

The surgeon, Carlo Giuntotardi, and Ghita, were established 
in a cavity of the rocks, perfectly protected against missiles, so 
long as the enemy continued on the side next the land, and yet 
within fifty feet of the battery. Here the former made the usual 
• bloody-looking if not bloody-minded preparations for applying 
tourniquets and for amputating, all unheeded, however, by his 
two companions, both of whom were lost to the scene around 
them in devout prayer. 

Just as these several dispositions were completed, Ithuel, who 
ever kept an eye to windward, called out to Raoul, and inquired 
if it might not be well to run the yards up to the mast-heads, 
as they would be more out of the way in their places aloft than 
littering the decks. There was no possible objection to the 
measure, it being a dead calm, and both the lugger and the 
felucca swayed their yards into their places, the sails being 


446 


WING-AND-WING. 


bent, and hanging in the brails. This is the ordinary state of 
craft of the latter rig, though not always that of luggers ; and 
the Granite-man, mindful that his own gear was down, in 
consequence of having been lowered by her former owners 
previously to the capture, bethought him of the expediency of 
getting everything ready for a run. He wished the lugger to be 
in an equal state of preparation, it being plain enough that two 
to be pursued would embarrass the English, in a chase, twice as 
much as one. This was the reason of his suggestion ; and he 
felt happier for seeing it attended to. 

On the other side, all preliminary difficulties had been 
disposed of. Captain Sir Frederick Dash wood was in command, 
and Lieutenants Winchester and Griffin, after a few open protes- 
tations, certain grimaces, and divers secret curses, were fain to 
submit. The discussion, however, had produced one result, not 
altogether unfavorable to the Proserpines. Cuffe sent four of 
her boats against the enemy, while he restricted the Terpsichore 
to two, including her gig, and the Ringdove to two. Each 
ship sent her launch, as a matter of course, with a twelve-pound 
boat-gun on its grating. Winchester was in that of the 
Proserpine ; Mr. Stothard, the second of the other frigate, was in 
the Terpsichore’s ; and McBean, as of right, commanded the 
Ringdove’s. Griffin was in the first cutter of his own ship, and 
Clinch had charge of the second. The third was headed by 
Strand, whose call was to have precedence on the occasion. 
The other boats had subordinates from their respective ships. 
All were in good heart; and, while all expected a severe 
struggle for her, knowing the desperate character of their 
enemy r every man in the boats felt confident that the lugger 
was finally to fall into British hands. Still, a grave con- 
sideration of the possible consequences to the actors, mingled 
with the exultation of the more reflecting men among the 
assailants. 

Sir Frederick Dash wood, who ought to have felt the moral 
responsibility of his command, of all the higher officers present, 
was the most indifferent to consequences. Constitutionally 


WING-AND-WING. 


447 


brave, personal considerations had little influence on him ; 
habitually confident of English prowess, he expected victory and 
credit as a matter of course ; and, favored by birth, fortune, 
and parliamentary interest, he gave himself no trouble as to the 
possibility of a failure, certain (though not avowing that 
certainty even to himself) that any little mishap would be 
covered by the broad mantle of the accident that had so early 
raised him to the rank he held. 

In making his dispositions for the fight, however, Sir Frede- 
rick had not disdained the counsels of men older and more ex- 
perienced than himself. Cuffe had given him much good 
advice, before they parted, and Winchester and Strand had 
been particularly recommended to him as seamen whose sug- 
gestions might turn out to be useful. 

“ I send a master’s-mate named Clinch, in charge of one of 
our boats, too, Dashwood,” added the senior captain, as he con- 
cluded his remarks ; “ who is one of the most experienced 
seamen in the Proserpine. He has seen much boat-service, and 
has always behaved himself well. A vile practice of drinking 
has kept the poor fellow under ; but he is now determined to 
make an effort, and I beg you will put him forward to-day, that 
he may have a chance. Jack Clinch has the right sort of stuff 
in him, if opportunities offer to bring it out.” 

“ I flatter myself, Cuffe, that all hands will meet with oppor- 
tunity enough,” answered Sir Frederick, in his drawling way; 
“ for I intend to put ’em all in together, like a thorough pack 
coming in at the death. I ’ve seen Lord Echo’s harriers so 
close, at the end of a long chase, that you might have covered 
the whole with this ship’s main-course ; and I intend it shall be 
so with our boats to-day. By the way, Cuffe, that would be a 
pretty figure for a despatch, and would make Bronte smile — 
ha ! — wouldn’t it ?” 

“ D n the figure, the harriers, and the despatch, too, 

Dashwood ; first win the day, before you begin to write poetry 
about it. Bronte, as you call Nelson, has lightning in him, as 
well as thunder, and there isn’t an admiral in the service, who 


448 


WING-AND-WING. 


cares less for blood and private rank than himself. The way to 
make him smile, is to do a thing neatly and well. For God’s 
sake, now, be careful of the men ; — we are short-handed as 
it is, and can ’t afford such another scrape as that off Porto 
Ferrajo.” 

“ Never fear for us, Cuffe ; you ’ll never miss the men I shall 
expend.” 

Every captain had a word to say to his officers ; but none 
other worth recording, with the exception of what passed 
between Lyon and his first-lieutenant. 

“ Ye ’ll remember, Airchy, that a ship can have a reputation 
for economy, as well as a man. There’s several of our own 
countrymen about the Admiralty just now ; and next to courage 
and enterprise, they view the expenditures with the keenest 
eyes. I ’ve known an admiral reach a red ribbon just on that 
one quality ; his accounts showing cheaper ships and cheaper 
squadrons than any in the sairvice. Ye ’ll all do your duties, 
for the honor o’ Scotland ; but there ’s six or seven Leith and 
Glasgow lads in the boats, that it may be as well not to let 
murder themselves, out of a’ need. I ’ve put the whole of the 
last draft from the river guard-ship into the boats, and with 
them there ’s no great occasion to be tender. They ’re the 
sweepings of the Thames and Wapping ; and quite half of them 
would have been at Botany Bay before this, had they not been 
sent here.” 

“ Does the law about being in sight apply to the boats or 
to the ships, the day, Captain Lyon ?” 

“ To the boats, man ; or who the de’il do you think would 
sairve in them ! It’s a pitiful affair, altogether, as it has 
turned out ; the honor being little more than the profit, I 
opine ; and yet ’t will never do to let old Scotia lag astairn, in a 
hand-to-hand battle. Ye 'll remember, we have a name for 
coming to the claymore ; and so do yer best, every mither’s son 
o’ ye.” 

McBean grunted assent, and went about his work as metho- 
dically as if it were a sum in algebra. The second lieutenant 


WING-AND-WING. 


449 


of the Terpsichore was a young Irishman, with a sweet, musical 
voice ; and, as the boats left the ships, he was with difficulty 
kept in the line, straining to move ahead, with his face on a 
grin, and his cheers stimulating the men to undue or unreason- 
able efforts. Such is an outline of the English materials on 
this occasion ; both parties being now ready for the struggle. 
If we add that it was already past two, and that all hands 
began to feel some anxiety on the score of the wind, which 
might soon be expected, the preliminary picture is sufficiently 
sketched. 

Sir Frederick Dashwood had formed his line about a mile 
within the rocks, with one launch in the centre, and one on 
each extremity. That in the centre was commanded by 
O’Leary, his own second-lieutenant; that on the left of his 
force by McBean, and the one on its right by Winchester. 
O’Leary was flanked by Griffin and Clinch, in the Proserpine’s 
cutters, while the intervals were filled by the remaining boats. 
The captain kept moving about in his own gig, giving his 
directions, somewhat confusedly, beyond a question ; yet with a 
cheerfulness and indifference of air that aided in keeping alive 
the general gaitt cle coeur. When all was ready, he gave the 
signal to advance, pulling, for the first half mile, chivalrously in 
advance of the line, with his own gig. 

Raoul had noted the smallest movement of the enemy with a 
glass, and with grave attention. Nothing escaped his jealous 
watchfulness; and he saw that Sir Frederick had made a 
capital error in the outset. Had he strengthened his centre, 
by putting all his carronades in the same battery, as it might 
be, the chances for success would have been doubled ; but, by 
dividing them, he so far weakened their effect, as to render it 
certain no one of the three French batteries could be wholly 
crippled by their fire. This, of course, left the difficult task to 
the English of pushing up to their hand-to-hand work, under 
the embarrassment of receiving constant discharges of grape 
and canister. 

The few minutes that intervened between the order to 


450 


WING-AND-WING. 


advance, and the moment when the boats got within a quarter 
of a mile of the rock, were passed in a profound quiet, neither 
side making any noise, though Raoul had no small difficulty in 
restraining the constitutional impatience of his own men to 
begin. A boat presents so small an object, however, to artille- 
rists as little skilled as seamen generally are, who depend more 
on general calculations than on the direct or scientific aim, the 
latter being usually defeated by the motion of their vessels, that 
he was unwilling to throw away even his canister. A French- 
man himself, however, he could refrain no longer, and he 
pointed a carronade, firing it with his own hand. This was the 
commencement of the strife. All the other guns in the ruin 
followed, and the lugger kept time as it might be by note. 
The English rose, gave three cheers, and each launch discharged 
her gun. At the same instant, the two men who held the 
matches in the felucca, applied them briskly to the vents of 
their respective pieces. To their surprise, neither exploded, 
and, on examination, it was discovered that the priming had 
vanished. To own the truth, he of the Granite state had slily 
brushed his hand over the guns, and robbed them of this great 
essential of their force. He held the priming-horns in his own 
hands, and resolutely refused to allow them to pass into those 
of any other person. 

It was fortunate Ithuel was known to be such a determined 
hater of the English, else might his life have been the forfeit of 
this seeming act of treachery. But he meditated no such 
dereliction of duty. Perfectly aware of the impossibility of 
preventing his men from firing, did they possess the means, 
this deliberate and calculating personage had resorted to this 
expedient to reserve his own effort, until, in his judgment, it 
might prove the most available. His men murmured, but, too 
much excited to deliberate, they poured in a discharge of 
musketry, as the only means of annoying the enemy then left 
them. Even Raoul glanced aside, a little wondering at not 
hearing the felucca’s carronades, but perceiving her people busy 
with their fire-arms, he believed all right. 


WING-AND-WING. 


451 


The first discharge, in such an affair, is usually the most 
destructive. On the present occasion, the firing was not with- 
out serious effects. The English, much the most exposed, 
suffered in proportion. Four men were hurt in Winchester’s 
boat, two in Griffin’s, six or eight men in the other launches 
and cutters : and one of •Sir Frederick’s gig-men was shot 
through the heart — a circumstance which induced that officer 
to drop alongside of a cutter, and exchange the dead body for a 
living man. 

On the rocks, but one man was injured. A round-shot had 
hit a stone, shivered it in fragments, and struck down a valuable 
seaman, just as he was advancing, with a gallant mien, to sponge 
one of the guns. 

“Poor Josef! ’’ said Raoul, as he witnessed the man’s fall ; 
“ carry him to the surgeon, mes braves .” 

“Mon Capitaine, Josef is dead.” 

This decided the matter, and the body was laid aside, while 
another stepped forward and sponged the gun. At that moment 
Raoul found leisure to walk a yard or two towards the rear, in 
order to ascertain if the cover of Ghita were sufficient. The girl 
was on her knees, lost to all around her ; though, could he have 
read her heart, he would have found it divided between entreaties 
to the Deity and love for himself. 

The lugger sustained no harm. O’Leary had overshot her, 
in his desire to make his missiles reach. Not even a canister 
had lodged in her spars, or torn her sails. The usual luck 
appeared to attend her, and the people on board fought with 
renewed confidence and zeal. Not so with the felucca, however. 
Here the fire of the English had been the most destructive. 
The wary and calculating McBean had given his attention to 
this portion of the French defences, and the consequences par- 
took of the sagacity and discretion of the man. A charge of 
canister had swept across the felucca’s decks, more than deci- 
mating Ithuel’s small force ; for it actually killed one, and 
wounded three of his party. 

But, the din once commenced, there was no leisure to pause. 


452 


WING-AND-WING. 


The fire was kept lip with animation on both sides, and men 
fell rapidly. The boats cheered and pressed ahead, the water 
becoming covered with a wide sheet of smoke. 

In moments like this, the safest course for the assailants is to 
push on. This the English did, firing and cheering at every 
fathom they advanced, but suffering also. The constant dis- 
charge of the carronades, and the total absence of wind, soon 
caused a body of smoke to collect in front of the rock, while the 
English brought on with them another, trailing along the water, 
the effect of their own fire. The two shrouds soon united, and 
then there was a minute when the boats could only be seen 
with indistinctness. This was Ithuel’s moment. Perceiving 
that the ten or twelve men who remained to him were engrossed 
with their muskets, he pointed the two carronades himself, and 
primed them from the horns which he had never quitted. For 
the felucca he felt no present concern. Winchester and all the 
boats in the centre of the English line were most in advance, 
the fire of the ruins urging them to the greatest exertion. Then 
McBean, besides being more distant, could not cross the rock in 
front of the felucca without making a circuit, and he must, as 
yet, be ignorant of the existence of the impediment. Ithuel was 
cool and calculating by nature, as well as by habit ; but this 
immunity from present risk probably increased the immediate 
possession of qualities so important in battle. His carronades 
were loaded to their muzzles with bags of bullets, and he beck- 
oned to the best seaman of his party to take one of the matches, 
while he used the other himself, each holding a monkev’s-tail in 
one hand, in readiness to train the light gun, as circumstances 
required. The pieces had been depressed by Ithuel himself, in 
the midst of the fray, and nothing remained but to wait the 
moment for using them. 

This moment was now near. The object of the English was 
to land on the principal islet, and to carry the ruin by storm. 
In order to do this, all the boats of their centre converged in 
their courses to the same point; and the smoke being driven 
off by each concussion of the guns, a dark cluster of the enemy 


WING-AND-WING. 


453 


diverged from the ragged outline of the vapor, within fifty yards 
of the intended point of landing. Ithuel and his companion 
were ready. Together they sighted, and together they fired. 
This unexpected discharge -from a quarter that had been so 
comparatively silent, surprised both friends and foes, and it 
drove a fresh mantle of smoke momentarily athwart the rock 
and the open space in its front. 

A cry arose from the dense shroud of battle, that differed 
from the shouts of success and courage. Physical agony had 
extorted shrieks from the stoutest hearts, and even the French 
in the ruins paused to look for the next act of the desperate 
drama. Raoul seized the opportunity to prepare for the expected 
hand-to-hand struggle ; but it was unnecessary. The cessation 
in the firing was common in both parties, and it gave the vapor 
a minute in which to lift the curtain from the water. 

When the late obstacle was raised high enough to admit of 
a view, the result became evident. All the English boats but 
one had scattered, and were pulling swiftly, in different direc- 
tions, from the scene of slaughter. By taking this course, they 
diverted and divided the fire of their enemies ; an expedient of 
which it would have been happier had they bethought them 
earlier. The remaining boat was a cutter of the Terpsichore. 
It had received the weight of canister from Ithuel’s own gun, 
and of sixteen men it had contained when it left the frigate’s 
side,' but two escaped. These fellows had thrown themselves 
into the sea, and were picked up by passing boats. The cutter 
itself came drifting slowly in towards the rock, announcing the 
nature of its fearful cargo, by the groans and cries that arose 
from out its bosom. Raoul stopped the fire, equally from 
humanity and policy, after a few discharges at the retreating 

boats ; and the first act of the battle closed. 

* # 

The breathing time gave both parties a desirable opportunity 
for ascertaining in what positions they were left. In the whole, 
the French had lost the services of eleven men ; all, with the 
exception of Ithuel’s four, in the ruin. The loss of the English 
amounted to thirty-three, including several officers. The mas- 


454 


WING-AND-WING. 


ter’s-mate, who had commanded the crippled cutter, lay over its 
stern, Hat on his back, with no less than five musket-balls 
through his chest. His passage into another state of existence 
had been sudden as the flight of the electric spark. Of his late 
companions, several were dead also ; though most were still 
enduring the pain of fractured bones and bruised nerves. The 
boat itself slowly touched the rocks, raising fresh cries among 
the wounded, by the agony they endured from the shocks of 
rising and falling under the ground-swell. 

Raoul was too deliberate, and too much collected, not to feel 
his advantage. Anxious to keep his means of further defence 
in the best condition, he directed all the guns to cease, and the 
damages to be repaired. Then he went with a party towards 
the boat that had fallen into his hands. To encumber himself 
with prisoners of any sort, in his actual situation, would have 
been a capital mistake, but to do this with wounded men would 
have been an act of folly. The boat had tourniquets and other 
similar appliances in it, and he directed some of the French to 
use them on those that wanted them most. He also supplied 
the parched lips of the sufferers with water ; when, conceiving 
that his duty was performed, he gave an order to haul the boat 
on one side, and to shove it forcibly out of the line of any com- 
ing conflict. 

O 

“ Halloo, Captain Rule !” called out Ithuel, “ you are wrong 
there. Let the boat lie where it is, and it will answer a better 
turn than another breastwork. The English will scarcely fire 
through their own wounded.” 

The look that Raoul cast towards his auxiliary was fierce, — 
even indignant ; but, disregarding the advice, he motioned for 
his own men to obey the order he had already given them. 
Then, as if mindful of Ithuel’s importance, his late timely suc- 
cor, and the necessity of not offending him, he walked to the 
side of the islet nearest to the felucca, and spoke courteously 
and cheerfully to him whose advice he had just treated with 
indifference, if not with disdain. This was not hypocrisy, but a 
prudent adaptation of his means to his circumstances. 


455 


WING-AND-WIN G . 

“ Bon , brave Etooelle ,” he said, “ your bags of bullets were 

welcome friends, and they arrived at the right moment.” 

/ 

“ Why, Captain Rule, in the Granite country we are never 
wasteful of our means. You can always wait for the white of 
Englishmen’s eyes in these affairs. They’re spiteful devils, on 
the whull, and seem to be near-sighted to a man. They came 
so clus’ at Bunker Hill, our folks” — 

“ Bon” repeated Raoul, feeling no wish to hear a thrice-told 
tale gone through again, Bunker Hill invariably placing Ithuel 
on a great horse in the way of bragging ; for he not only im- 
agined that great victory a New-England triumph, as in fact it 
was, but he was much disposed to encourage the opinion that 
it was in a great measure “ granite.” “ Bon” interrupted Raoul 
— “ Bunkair was good ; — mais , les Roches aux Sirens is bettair. 
If you have more de ces balles load encore .” 

“ What think you of this, Captain Rule ?” asked the other, 
pointing up at a little vane that began to flutter at the head of 
one of his masts. “ Here is the west wind, and an opportunity 
offers to be off. Let us take wit, and run !” 

Raoul started, and gazed at the heavens, the vane, and the 
surface of the sea ; the latter beginning to show a slightly ruffled 
surface. Then his eye wandered towards Gliita. The girl had 
risen from her knees, and her eyes followed his every movement. 
When they met his, with a sweet, imploring smile, she pointed 
upwards, as if beseeching him to pay the debt of gratitude he 
owed to that dread Being who had as yet borne him unharmed 
through the fray. He understood her meaning, kissed his hand 
in affectionate gallantry, and turned towards Ithuel, to pursue 
the discourse. 

“It is too soon,” he said. “We are impregnable here, and 
the wind is still too light. An hour hence, and we will all go 
together.” 

Ithuel grumbled ; but his commander heeded it not. The 
judgment of the latter had decided right. The boats were 
rallying within musket-shot, indifferent to the danger, and it was 
evident the attack was to be renewed. To have attempted to 


456 


WING-AND-WING. 


escape at such an instant, would have been throwing away the 
great advantage of the ruins, and might have endangered all, 
without benefiting any one. 

In point of fact, Sir Frederick Dashwood had become keenly 
alive to a sense of the disgrace he was likely to incur, in the 
event of the ships’ getting round, and robbing him of the credit 
of capturing the lugger. The usually apathetic nature of this 
young man was thoroughly aroused, and, like all who are diffi- 
cult to excite, he became respectable when his energies were 
awakened. The boats were already collected ; all the disabled 
were put into one of them, and ordered oft' to the ships ; and 
with those that remained arrangements were made to renew the 
attempt. It was fortunate that Cuffe had sent an expedition so 
strong-handed ; for, notwithstanding the loss, the three launches 
and the cutters could still muster double the number of the 
French. 

This time, Sir Frederick was willing to listen to counsel. 
Winchester, McBean, Griffin, and Strand, united in advising 
that the boats should separate, and make their assaults from 
different points. This v r ould prevent the possibility of a recur- 
rence of so concentrated a disaster as that which had already 
befallen them. To the Scotchman was assigned the felucca ; 
the Terpsichore’s launch was to assail the lugger ; while the two 
cutters, and the heavier boat of the Proserpine, were to dash in 
at the ruins. Sir Frederick still remained in his own gig, to 
push for the point that might seem to require his presence. 

McBean was the first to fire on this occasion. He threw a 
round-shot from his carronade into the felucca, aimed by himself, 
and directed with care. It fell upon one of Ithuel’s carronades, 
broke it into a dozen pieces, knocked down no less than three men, 
besides injuring others less severely, and actually drove the gun 
it struck off its slide into the felucca’s hold. This was a rouo’h 

O 

commencement, and the result being seen by all hands, it greatly 
encouraged the assailants. Three hearty English cheers followed, 
and Ithuel was so far disconcerted as to fire the remaining gun, 
loaded as before with bullets, at least two minutes too soon. 


WING-AND-WING. 


457 


The sea was thrown into a foam, but not a man in the boats 
was hurt. Then the fire became general ; gun after gun ex- 
ploding ; the rattling of small-arms filling up the pauses. The 
boats came on with steady, strong pulls of the oar, and this too 
with an impunity that often happens, though difficult to be ex- 
plained. Several shot fell among the ruins, knocking the stones 
about, and for a minute or two all the injury was on one side. 
But Pintard and Itliuel felt the security conferred by the rocks 
in their front, and each endeavored to give one effective discharge. 
Ithuel succeeded the best. He repaid McBean in his own coin, 
sending a grist of bullets into the bows of his launch, which ad- 
monished that prudent officer of the necessity of shearing towards 
the islet of the ruins. Pintard’s assailant was brought up by 
the barrier in front, and turned aside also. Then, in the midst 
of a cloud of smoke, shouts, curses, cries, shrieks, orders, and the 
roar of guns, all the English precipitated themselves in a body 
on the principal post, and became the masters of the battery in 
the twinkling of an eye. 


20 


458 


WING-AND-WING. 




% 


CHAPTER XXIX. 

“Thus doth the ever changing course of things 
Run a perpetual circle, ever turning; 

And that same day, that highest glory brings, 

Brings us to the point of back returning.” 

Daniel. 


In scenes like that just related, it is not easy to collect details. 
All that was ever known beyond the impetuous manner of the 
assault in which the ruins were carried, was in the dire result. 
Half the French on the islet were weltering in their blood, and 
the surface of the rocks was well sprinkled with enemies who 
had not been more fortunate. It had been a desperate onset, 
in which mortification increased natural intrepidity, which had 
been nobly resisted, but in which numbers had necessarily pre- 
vailed. Among the English slain was Sir Frederick Dashwood 
himself ; he lay about a yard from his own gig, with a ball 
directly through his head. Griffin was seriously hurt, but 
Clinch was untouched, on the low rampart, waving an English 
Jack — after having hauled down a similar emblem of the 
French. His boat had first touched the rock, her crew had 
first reached the ruin, and of all in her, he himself had taken 
the lead. Desperately had he contended for Jane and a com- 
mission, and this time Providence appeared to smile on his 
efforts. As for Raoul, he lay in front of his own rampart, 
having rushed forward to meet the party of Clinch, and 
had actually crossed swords with his late prisoner, when a 
musket-ball, fired by the hands of McBean, traversed his 
body. 

“ Courage , rues braves ! en avant ! ” he was heard to shout, 
as he leaped the low wall, to repel the invaders — and when he 
lay on the hard rock, his voice w r as still strong enough to make 


WIN G-AND- WING. 


459 


itself heard, crying — “ Lieutenant — nom de Lieu — sauve man 
Feu-Follet /” 

It is probable that Pintard would not have stirred, even at 
this order* had not the English ships been seen, at that instant, 
coining round Campanella, with a leading westerly wind. The 
flap of canvas was audible near by, too, and turning, he saw the 
Michael falling off under her foresail, and already gathering 
steerage-way. Not a soul was visible on her decks, Ithuel, who 
steered, lying so close as to be hid by her waist-cloths. The 
hawsers of the lugger were cut, and le Feu-Follet started back 
like an affrighted steed. It was only to let go the brails, and 
her foresail fell. Light, and feeling the breeze, which now 
came in strong puffs, she shot out of the little bay, and wore 
short round on her keel. Two or three of the English boats 
attempted to follow, but it was idle. Winchester, who now 
commanded, recalled them, saying that it remained for the 
ships to perform their task. The day had been too bloody, 
indeed, to think of more than securing the present success, and 
of attending to the hurt. 

Leaving the party on the islets for a moment, w r e will follow 
the two vessels in their attempt to escape. Pintard and his 
companions abandoned Raoul with heavy hearts, but they 
plainly saw him prostrated on the rocks, and by the hand 
placed on his side, understood the desperate nature of his 
wound. Like him, they felt some such interest as one enter- 
tains for a beloved mistress in the fate of the lugger, and 
the words — “ sauve mon Feu-Follet ! ” were ringing in their 
ears. 

As soon as the lugger got round, she set her after-sail, and 
then she began to glide through the water with the usual knife- 
like parting of the element under her bows. The course she 
steered took her directly out of the bay, seeming to lead across 
the fore-foots of the English ships. Ithuel did not imitate this 
manoeuvre. He kept more away in the line for Paestum, 
rightly enough believing that in the greedy desire to overtake 
the lugger, his own movement would pass unheeded. The 


460 


WING-AND-WINO. 


owner of this craft was still on board the Terpsichore ; but 
every remonstrance, and all the requests he made that his own 
vessel might be followed and captured, were utterly unheeded 
by the lieutenant now in command. To him, as to • all others 
in authority, there seemed to be but one thing desirable, and 
that was to secure the lugger. Of course none yet knew of the * 
fatal character of the struggle on the rocks, or of the death of 
the English leader ; though the nature of the result was suffi- 
ciently understood, by seeing the English Jack flying among 
the ruins, and the two vessels under weigh, endeavoring to 
escape. 

The season was now so far advanced as to render the old 
stability of the breezes a little uncertain. The zephyr had come 
early, and it had come fresh ; but there were symptoms of a 
sirocco about the barometer and in the atmosphere. This 
rendered all in the ships eager to secure their prize before a 
shift of wind should come. Now that there were three fast 
vessels in chase, none doubted of the final result ; and Cuffe 
paced the quarter-deck of the Proserpine, rubbing his hands 
with delight, as he regarded all the propitious signs of the 
times. 

The Ringdove was ordered by signal to haul up south-south- 
west, or close on a wind, with a view to make such an offing as 
would prevent the possibility of the lugger’s getting outside of 
the ships, and gaining the wind of them ; an achievement Cuffe 
thought she might very well be enabled to accomplish, could 
she once fairly come by the wind under circumstances that 
would prevent any of his vessels from bringing her under their 
guns. The Terpsichore was directed to run well into the bay, 
to see that a similar artifice was not practised in that direction ; 
while the Proserpine shaped her own course at the angle that 
would intercept the chase, should the latter continue to stand 
on. 

It was an easy thing for the French to set all their canvas, 
the hamper of a lugger being so simple. This was soon done ; 
and Pintard watched the result with intense interest, well know- 


WING-AND-WING. 


461 


ing that everything now depended on heels, and ignorant what 
might be the effect of her present trim on the sailing of his 
beautiful craft. Luckily some attention had been paid to her 
lines, in striking in the ballast again ; and it was soon found 
that the vessel was likely to behave well. Pintard thought her 
so light as to be tender; but, not daring to haul up high 
enough to prove her in that way, it remained a matter of 
opinion only. It was enough for him that she lay so far to the 
west of south as to promise to clear the point of Piane, and that 
she skimmed alono- the water at a rate that bade fair to distance 

O 

all three of her pursuers. Anxious to get an offing, however, 
which would allow him to alter his course at night in more 
directions than one, he kept luffing, as the wind favored, so as 
sensibly to edge off the land. 

As the two chases commenced their flight quite a mile to the 
southward of the ships, having that much the start of them on 
account of the position of the rocks, it rendered them both tole- 
rably free from all danger of shot at the beginning of the race. 
The course steered by Ithuel soon placed him beyond their 
reach altogether ; and Cuffe knew that little would be gained, 
while much might be lost, in making any attempt of this sort 
on the lugger. Consequently not a gun was fired ; but the 
result was thrown fairly on the canvas, and on the sailing of the 
respective vessels. 

Such was the state of things at the beginning of this chase. 
The wind freshened fast, and soon blew a strong breeze ; one 
that drove the ships ahead under clouds of studding-sails and 
stay-sails — the latter being much used at that period — at the 
rate of quite ten knots the hour. But neither gained on le 
Feu-Follet. The course was by no means favorable to her, the 
wind being well on her quarter ; still, she rather gained than 
was gained on. All four vessels went off rapidly to the south- 
ward, as a matter of course ; nor was it long before they were 
to leeward of the felucca, which had both shortened sail and 
hauled up to the eastward, as soon as Ithuel felt satisfied he 
was not to be followed. After a sufficient tinie had elapsed, 


462 


WING-AND-WING. 


the Holy Michael tacked, and came out of the bay, crossing the 
wake of the Terpsichore just beyond gun-shot. Of course, this 
manoeuvre was seen from the frigate ; and the padrone of the 
felucca tore his hair, threw himself on the quarter-deck, and 
played many other desperate antics, in the indulgence of his 
despair, or to excite sympathy : but all in vain ; the lieutenant 
was obstinate, refusing to alter tack or sheet to chase a miserable 
felucca, with so glorious an object in full view before him as the 
celebrated lugger of Raoul Yvard. As a matter of course, 
Ithuel passed out to sea unmolested ; and, it may as well be 
said here that, in due time, he reached Marseilles in safety, 
where the felucca was sold, and the Granite-seaman disappeared 
for a season. There will be occasion to speak of him only once 
ao’ain in this legend. 

O O 

The trial of speed must soon have satisfied Pintard that he 
had little to apprehend from his pursuers, even with the breeze 
there was. But circumstances favored the lugger. The wind 
hauled materially to the northward, and before the sun set, it 
enabled the French to run off wing-and-wing, still edging from 
the land. It now began to blow so heavily as to compel the 
ships to reduce their light canvas. Some time before the night 
set in, both frigates and the sloop were under main-top-gallant- 
sails only, with top-mast and lower studding-sails on each side. 
Le Feu-Foil et made no change. Her jigger had been taken in, 
as soon as she kept dead away, and then she dashed ahead, 
under her two enormous lugs, confident in their powers of en- 
durance. The night was not very dark ; but it promised to 
carry her beyond the vision of her pursuers even before eight 
bells, did the present difference in sailing continue. 

A stern chase is proverbially a long chase. For one fast 
vessel to outsail another a single mile in an hour, is a great 
superiority ; and even in such circumstances, many hours must 
elapse ere one loses sight of the other by day. The three 
English ships held way together surprisingly, the Proserpine 
leading a little ; while le Feu-Follet might possibly have found 
herself, at the end of a six hours’ chase, some four miles in ad 


WING-AND-WING. 


463 


vance of her, three of which she had gained since keeping off, 
wing-and-wing. The lightness of the little craft essentially aided 
her. The canvas had less weight to drag after it ; and Pin- 
tard observed that the hull seemed to skim the waves, as soon 
as the sharp stem had divided them, and the water took the 
bearings of the vessel. Hour after hour did he sit on the bow- 
sprit, watching her progress ; a crest of foam scarce appearing 
ahead, before it was glittering under the lugger’s bottom. Occa- 
sionally, a pursuing sea cast the stern upwards, as if about to 
throw it in advance of the bows ; but le Feu-Follet was too 
much accustomed to this treatment to be disturbed, and she 
ever rose on the billow, like a bubble, and then the glancing 
arrow scarce surpassed the speed with which she hastened for- 
ward, as if to recover lost time. 

Cuffe did not quit the deck until the bell struck two, in the 
middle watch. This made it one o’clock. Yelverton and the 
master kept the watches between them, but the captain was 
always near with his advice and orders. 

“ That craft seems faster when she gets her sails wing-and- 
wing than she is even close-hauled, it seems to me, Yelverton,” 
observed Cuffe, after taking a long look at the chase with a 
night-glass ; “ I begin to be 'afraid we shall lose her. Neither 
of the other ships does anything to help us. Here we are all 
three, dead in her wake, following each other like so many old 
maids going to church of a Sunday morning.” 

“ It would have been better, Captain Cuffe, had the Ringdove 
kept more to the westward, and the frigate further east. Fast 
as the lugger is with her wings spread, she’s faster with them 
jammed up on a wind. I expect every moment to find her 
sheering off to the westward, and gradually getting us in her 
wake on a wind. I fear we should find that worse work than 
even this, sir.” 

“ I would not lose her now, for a thousand pounds ! I do 
not see what the d — 1 Dashwood was about, that he did not 
secure her when he got possession of the rocks. I shall rattle 
him down a little, as soon as we meet.” 


464 


WING-AND-WING. 


Cuffe would have been shocked had he known that the body 
of Sir Frederick Dasliwood was, just at that moment, going 
through the melancholy process of being carried on board a 
two-decker, up at Naples, the captain of which was his kinsman. 
But he did not know it, nor did he learn his death for more 

than a week ; or after the body had been interred. 

* 

“Take the glass, Yelverton, and look at her. To me she 
grows very dim — she must be leaving us fast. Be careful to 
note if there are any signs of an intention to sheer to the west- 
ward.” 

“ That can hardly be done without jibing her forward lug 
— hang me, Captain Cuffe, if I can see her at all. Ah ! here she 
is, dead ahead as before, but as dim as a ghost. I can barely 
make out her canvas — she is still wing-and-wing, d — n her, 
looking more like the spectre of a craft than a real thing. I 
lost her in that yaw, sir — I wish you would try, Captain Cuffe — 
do my best, I cannot find her again.” 

Cuffe did try, but without success. Once, indeed, he fancied 
he saw her, but further examination satisfied him it was a mis- 
take. So long had he been gazing at the same object, that it 
was easy for the illusion to pass before his mind’s eye, of ima- 
gining a dim outline of the little lugger flying away, like the scud 
of the heavens, wing-and-wing, ever seeming to elude his obser- 
vation. That night he dreamed of her, and there were haply 
five minutes during which his wandering thoughts actually por- 
trayed the process of taking possession, and of manning the 
prize. 

Previously to this, however, signals were made to the other 
ships, ordering them to alter their courses, with a view to meet 
anticipated changes in that of le Feu-Follet. Lyon was sent to 
the westward, the Terpsichore a little easterly, while the Proser- 
pine herself ventured so far as to steer southwest, after two 
o’clock. But a sudden and violent shift of wind came an hour 
before day. It was the expected — nay, the announced sirocco, 
and it brought the lugger to windward beyond all dispute. 
The south breeze came strong from the first puff'; and, while 


WING-AND-WING. 


465 


it did not amount to a gale until the afternoon of the next day, 
it blew heavily, in squalls, after the first hour. 

When the day dawned, the three ships were out of sight of 
each other. The Proserpine, which we shall accompany, as our 
old acquaintance, and an actor in what is to succeed, was under 
double-reefed topsails, with her head up as high as west-south- 
west, laboring along through the troughs of the seas left by 
the late Tramontana. The weather was thick, rain and drizzle 
coming in the squalls, and there were moments when the water 
could not be seen a cable’s-length from the ship ; at no time 
was the usual horizon fairly visible. In this manner the frigate 
struggled ahead, Cuffe unwilling to abandon all hopes of success, 
and yet seeing little prospect of its accomplishment. The look- 
outs were aloft, as usual, but it was as much for form as for any 
great use they were likely to be, since it was seldom a man 
could see further from the cross-trees than he could from the 
deck. 

The officers, as well as the men, had breakfasted. A species 
of sullen discontent pervaded the ship, and the recent kind feel- 
ings towards Raoul Yvard had nearly vanished in disappoint- 
ment. Some began to grumble about the chances of the other 
ships falling in with the lugger, while others swore “ that it 
mattered not who saiv her ; catch her none could, who had not 
an illicit understanding with the Father of Lies. She was well 
named the Mack-o’-Lantern ; for Jack-o’-Lantern she was, and 
Jack-o’-Lantern would she ever prove to be. As well might a 
false fire be followed in a meadow, as such a craft at sea. They 
might think themselves fortunate if the officers and people sent 
against her in the boats ever got back to their own wholesome 
ship again.’’ 

In the midst of such prognostics and complaints, the captain 
of the fore-top shouted the words 4 sail ho !’ The usual inquiry 
and answer followed, and the officers got a glimpse of the object. 
The stranger was distant half a league, and he was seen very 
indistinctly on account of the haze ; but seen he was. 

44 ’Tis a xebec,” growled the master, who was one of the 

20 * 


466 


WING-AND-WING. 


grumblers of the day — “ a fellow with his hold crammed with a 
wine that would cover the handsomest woman’s face in Lunnun 
with wrinkles.” 

“By Jupiter Ammon!” Cuffe exclaimed, “’tis le Feu-Folly, 
or I do not know an old acquaintance. Quartermaster, hand 
me the glass — not that, the shorter glass is the best.” 

“ Long or short, you’ll never make that out,” muttered the 
master. “ The Folly has more folly about her than I give her 
credit for, if we get another look at her this summer.” 

“ What do you make of him, Captain Cuffe ?” Yelverton 
eagerly demanded. 

“Just what I told you, sir — ’tis the lugger — and — I cannot 
be mistaken. — Aye, by Jove, she is coming down before it, wing- 
and-wing, again ! That’s her play, just now, it would seem, 
and she does not appear to have got enough of it yet.” 

An attentive look satisfied Yelverton that his commander was 
right. Even the master had to confess his error, though he did 
it ungraciously and with reluctance. It was the lugger, of a 
certainty, though so dimly seen as to render it difficult, at mo- 
ments, to trace her outlines at all. She was running in a line 
that would carry her astern of the frigate about a mile, and she 
was rather more than thrice that distance to windward. 

“ She cannot see us,” said Cuffe, thoughtfully. “ Beyond a 
doubt she thinks us to windward, and is endeavoring to get out 
of our neighborhood. We must get round, gentlemen, and 
now is a favorable moment. Tack ship, at once, Mr. Yelverton 
— I think she ’ll do it.” 

The experiment was made, and it succeeded. The Proserpine 
worked beautifully, and Yelverton knew how to humor her to 
a nicety. In five minutes the ship was round, with everything 
trimmed on the other tack ; — close-reefed mizen, and double- 
reefed fore and main-top-sails — a reefed main-sail, with other 
sails to suit. As she was kept a rap full, or a little off, indeed, 
to prevent the lugger from slipping past, she might have gone 
from five to six knots. 

The next five minutes were intensely interesting to the people 


WING-AND-WING. 


467 


of the Proserpine. The weather became thicker, and all traces 
of le Feu-Follet were lost. Still, when last seen, she was wing- 
and-wing, flying rather than sailing down towards their own 
track. By Cuffe’s calculation, the two vessels would nearly 
meet in less than a quarter of an hour, should neither alter her 
course. Several guns were got ready, in preparation for such a 
rencontre. 

“ Let the weather hold thick a few minutes longer, and we 
have her !” cried Cuffe. “ Mr. Yelverton, you must go down 
and see to those guns yourself. Plump it right into her, if 
you’re ordered to fire. The fellow has no hamper, and 
stripping him must be a matter of pure accident. Make it too 
hot for him on deck, and he ’ll have to give up, Raoul Yvard 
or the d — 1 !” 

“ There she is, sir !” shouted a midshipman from a cat-head — * 
for everybody who dared had crowded forward to get an early 
look at the chase. 

There she was sure enough, wing-and-wing, as before. The 
dulness of the lugger’s look-outs has never been explained, as 
a matter of course ; but it was supposed, when all the circum- 
stances came to be known, that most of her people were asleep, 
to recover from the recent extraordinary fatigue, and a night in 
which all hands had been kept on deck, in readiness to make 
sail ; the vessel having but some thirty souls in her. At length 
the frigate was seen, the weather lighting, and it was not an instant 
too soon. The two vessels, at that critical instant, were about 
half a mile apart, le Feu-Follet bearing directly off the 
Proserpine’s weather-bow. In the twinkling of an eye, the 
former jibed ; then she was seen coming to the wind, losing 
sufficient ground in doing so, to bring her just in a range with 
the two weather chase-guns. Cuffe instantly gave the order to 
open a fire. 

“ What the d — 1 has got into her !” exclaimed the captain, — - 
“ she topples like a mock mandarin, — she used to be as stiff as 
a church ! What can it mean, sir ?” 

The master did not know, but we may say that the lugger 


468 


WING-AND-WING. 


was flying light, too much so for the canvas she carried, for, in 
such heavy weather, there was not time to shorten sail. She 
lurched heavily under the sea that was now getting up, and a 
squall striking her, her lee guns were completely buried. Just 
at this moment the Proserpine belched forth her flame and 
smoke. The shot could not be followed, and no one knew 
where they struck. Four had been fired, when a squall 
succeeded that shut in the chase, and, of course, the firing was 
suspended. So severe was this momentary effort of the African 
gales, hot, drowsy, and deadening as they are, that the Proser- 
pine started her mizen-top-sail sheets, and clewed up her main- 
course, to save the spar. But the tack was instantly boarded 
again, and the top-sail set. A gleam of sunshine succeeded, 
but the lugger had disappeared ! 

The sun did not remain visible, and that faintly, more than a 
minute ; still, the eye could range several miles, for thrice that 
period. After this the horizon became more limited, but no 
squall occurred for a quarter of an hour. When the lugger 
was missed, the Proserpine was heading up within half a point 
of the spot at which she w r as supposed to be. In a short time 
she drove past this point, perhaps a hundred fathoms to 
leeward of it. Here she tacked, and stretching off a sufficient 
distance to the southward and westward, came round again, 
and heading up east-south-east, was thought to sweep along 
over the empty track. Not a sign of the missing vessel was 
discovered. The sea had swallowed all, lugger, people, and 
hamper. It was supposed that, owing to the fact that so many 
light articles had been left on the rocks, nothing remained to 
float. All had accompanied le Feu-Follet to the bottom. Of 
boats there were none, these being at the islet of the ruins, and, 
if any seaman swam off in the desperate attempt to save his life 
in the midst of the cauldron of waters, he did not succeed, 
or was overlooked by the English in their search. The latter, 
indeed, may have miscalculated their distances, and not have 
passed within a cable’s-length of the place where the victims, 
if any such there were, still struggled for existence. 


WING-AND-WING. 


469 


Cuffe, and all around him, were forcibly struck with so 
unlooked-for and so dire a calamity. The loss of a vessel, 
under such circumstances, produces an effect like a sudden 
death among companions. It is a fate all may meet with, 
and it induces reflection and sadness. Still, the English did 
not give up the hope of rescuing some unfortunate wretch, 
clinging to a spar, or supporting himself by supernatural efforts, 
for several hours. At noon, however, the ship squared away 
and ran for Naples before the wind, being drawn aside 
from her course by another chase, in which she succeeded 
better, capturing a sloop-of-war, which she carried in several 
days later. 

The first act of Cuffe, on anchoring in the fleet, was to go on 
board the Foudroyant, and report himself and his proceedings 
to the rear-admiral. Nelson had heard nothing of the result, 
beyond what had occurred at the islets, and the separation of 
the ships. 

“ Well, Cuffe,” he said, reaching out his remaining hand 
kindly to his old Agamemnon, as the other entered the cabin — 
“ the fellow has got off*, after all ! It has been a bad business 
altogether, but we must make the best of it. Where do you 
fancy the lugger to be?” 

Cuffe explained what had happened, and put into the 
admiral’s hand an official letter, explaining his recent 
success. With the last Nelson was pleased — at the first 
surprised. After a long, thoughtful pause, he went into the 
after-cabin, and returned, throwing a small, jack-like flag on the 
floor. 

“ As Lyon was cruising about,” he said, “ and his sloop was 
pitching her cat-heads under, this thing was washed upon a 
spare anchor, where it stuck. It’s a queer flag. Can it have 
had any connexion with the lugger ?” 

Cuffe looked, and he immediately recognised the little ala e 
ala jack, that the Italians had described to him in their many 
conversations. It was the only vestige that was ever found of 
the Wing-and-Wing. 


4*70 


WING-AND-WING. 


CHAPTER XXX 

“How beautiful is sorrow, when ’tis drest 
By virgin innocence ! It makes 
Felicity in others, seem deformed.” 

Davenant. 

We must return to the rocks, and the melancholy scene they 
offered. Our purposes will be answered, however, by advancing 
the time into the evening, omitting many things that the 
reader can imagine without our relating them. 

o o 

It is scarcely necessary to say that Andrea Barrofaldi and 
Vito Viti took no part in the bloody transactions we have 
related. When all was over, however, they drew near to 
the rocks, and, sitting in their boat, contemplating the sad 
spectacle presented within the narrow compass of the islet 
of the ruins, the following short dialogue occurred between 
them : — 

“ Vice-go vernatore,” demanded the podesta, pointing to the 
place where Sir Frederick lay, a motionless corpse, Raoul bleed- 
ing, and others were writhing under their wounds — u do you 
call this reality, or is it a part of that damnable doctrine which 
is enough to set the whole earth by the ears, and to turn men 
into tigers and hawks ?” 

“ I fear, neighbor Vito, this will only prove too true. I 
see the bodies of Sir Dashwood and Sir Smees ; and God 
knows how many more have this day departed for the world of 
spirits.” 

“ Leaving behind them only a world of shadows,” muttered 
Vito Viti, even that melancholy spectacle failing to draw his 
thoughts altogether from a discussion that had now lasted near 
four-and-twenty hours. But the moment was not propitious 


WING-AND-WINO, 


471 


to argument, and the two Italians landed. This was within 
half an hour after the struggle had ceased ; and our intentions 
are to advance the time to the moment mentioned in the 
opening of this chapter. 

We must give here, however, a rapid sketch of the proceed- 
ings that narrowed down the view to that we intend shortly to 
lay before the reader. As soon as there was leisure, Winchester 
made a survey of the field of battle. He found many of his 
own men slain, and more wounded. Of the French on the islet, 
quite half were hurt ; but the mortal wound received by their 
leader was the blow that all lamented. The surgeon soon pro- 
nounced Raoul’s case to be hopeless ; and this declaration was 
heard with regret even by generous enemies. The defence had 
been desperate ; it would have succeeded, had it been within the 
scope of possibility for so few courageous men to repel double 
their numbers of those who were equally brave. Both sides had 
fought for honor ; and, when this is the case, victory generally 
awaits the strongest. 

As soon as it was perceived that all the ships were likely to 
be led far to leeward in chase, the English officers felt the ne- 
cessity of acting for themselves. The medical men had been 
busy from the first, and in the course of a couple of hours, all 
had been done for the wounded that present circumstances 
would allow. The amputations were few, and each vessel having 
sent a surgeon, these were all made, while the other appliances 
had been successfully used in such cases as would be benefited 
by them. The day was drawing near a close, and the distance 
from the fleet was so great as to call for exertion. 

As soon, therefore, as the uninjured men were refreshed and 
the wounded cared for, the latter were put into the launches, in 
the best manner they might be, and the cutters took them in 
tow. One had no sooner received its melancholy freight, than 
it left the islets, on its way to the hospital-ship of the fleet. The 
others succeeded, in turn ; the unhurt French willingly offering 
to assist in the performance of this pious duty. At length, but 
three boats remained. One was Sir Frederick’s gig, which 


472 


WINGr-AND-WIN Gr. 


Winchester had kept for his own particular use ; another was 
the yawl of Andrea Barrofaldi ; and the third, the little craft in 
which Carlo Giuntotardi had come from the shore. Of the 
French, no one remained but the surgeon of the lugger, Raoul’s 
steward and personal attendant, and Raoul himself. If to these 
be added the two Italians and their oarsmen, Carlo and his 
niece, with Winchester and his boat’s crew, we enumerate all 
who now remained at the rocks. 

By this time the sun had sunk below the adjacent hills, and 
it was necessary to decide on some course. Winchester con- 
sulted the surgeon as to the expediency of removing his patient. 
Could it be done, it had better be done soon. 

“ Mon lieutenant ,” answered this personage a little drily, 
“ mon brave ca^itaine has but a short time to live. He has 
entreated to be left here, on the scene of his glory, and in the 
company of that female whom he so well loved — mais — you 
are the victors” — shrugging his shoulders — “ and you will do 
your own pleasure.” 

Winchester colored and bit his lips. The idea of torturing 
Raoul, either in body or mind, was the last intention of one so 
humane, but he felt indignant at the implied suspicion. Com- 
manding himself, notwithstanding, he bowed courteously, and 
intimated that he would remain himself, with his prisoner, until 
all were over. The Frenchman was surprised, and when he 
read the sympathy of the other in the expression of his coun- 
tenance, he felt regret for his own distrust, and still more at 
having expressed it. 

u Mais , Monsieur ,” he answered “ night will soon come — vou 
may have to pass it on the rocks.” 

“ And if we do, doctor, it is no more than we seamen are used 
to. Boat-service is common duty with us. I have only to wrap 
myself in my cloak, to enjoy a seaman’s comfort.” 

This settled the matter, and no more was said. The surgeon, 
a man accustomed to the exercise of such resources, soon managed 
to make his dispositions for the final scene. In clearing the 
lugger, a hundred fight articles had been thrown on the islet on 


WING” AND-WING. 


473 


which she had touched, and among others were several rude 
mattresses of the seamen. Two or three of these were procured, 
placed on the smoothest surface of the rock, and a bed formed 
for Raoul. The medical man and the seamen would have 
erected a tent with a sail, hut this the wounded man forbade. 

a Let me breathe the free air,” he said — “I shall use but 
little of it ; — let that little be free.” ^ 

It was useless to oppose such a wish ; nor was there any 
motive for it. The air was pure, and little need be apprehended 
from the night, in behalf of Ghita, surrounded as they were by 
the pure waters of the ocean. Even when the Tramontana 
came, although it was cool, its coolness was not unpleasant, the 
adjacent hill sheltering the islets from its immediate influence. 

The English seamen collected some fuel from the spare spars 
of the lugger, and lighted a fire on the rock where they had 
been found. Food of all sorts was abundant, and several casks 
of water had been struck out whole, as provision against a siege. 
Here they made coffee, and cooked enough food for the wants 
of all the party. The distance prevented their disturbing those 
who remained near Raoul; while the light of the fire, which was 
kept in a cheerful blaze, cast a picturesque glow upon the 
group around the dying man, as soon as the night had fairly 
set in. It superseded, too, the necessity of any lamps or torches. 

We pass over all the first outpourings of Ghita’s anguish, when 
she learned the wound of Raoul, her many and fervent prayers, 
and the scenes that took place during the time that the islet 
was still crowded with the combatants. More quiet hours suc- 
ceeded when these last were gone ; and as the night advanced, 
something like the fixed tranquillity of settled despair followed 
the first emotions. When ten o’clock arrived, we reach the 
moment at which we wish to raise the curtain once more, in 
order to present the principal actors in the scene. 

Raoul lay on the summit of the islet, where his eye could 
range over the mild waters that washed the rock, and his ear 
listen to the murmurings of his own element. The Tramontana, 
as usual, had driven all perceptible vapor from the atmosphere, 


474 


WING-AND-WING. 


and the vault of heaven, in its cerulean blue, and spangled with 
thousands of stars, stretched itself above him, a glorious harbin- 
ger for the future, to one who died in hope. The care of Ghita 
and the attendants had collected around the spot so many little 
comforts, as to give it the air of a room suddenly divested of 
sides and ceiling, but habitable and useful. Winchester, fatigued 
with his day’s work, and mindful of the wish that Raoul might 
so naturally feel to be alone with Ghita, had lain down on a 
mattress, leaving orders to be called should anything occur ; 
while the surgeon, conscious that he could do no more, had 
imitated his example, making a similar request. As for Carlo 
Giuntotardi, he seldom slept ; he was at his prayers in the ruins. 
Andrea and the podesta paced the rock to keep themselves 
warm, slightly regretting the sudden burst of humanity which 
had induced them to remain. 

Raoul and Ghita were alone. The former lay on his back, 
his head bolstered, and his face upturned towards the vault of 
heaven. The pain was over, and life was ebbing fast. Still, the 
mind was unshackled, and thought busy as ever. His heart 
was still full of Ghita ; though his extraordinary situation, and 
more especially the glorious view before his eyes, blended cer- 
tain pictures of the future with his feelings, that were as novel 
as he found them powerful. 

With the girl it was different. As a woman, she felt the 
force of this sudden blow in a manner that she found difficult 
to bear. Still, she blessed God that what had occurred, hap- 
pened in her presence, as it might be ; leaving her the means 
of acting, and the efficacy of prayer. To say that she did not 
yet feel the liveliest love for Raoul, all that tenderness which 
constitutes so large a portion of woman’s nature, would be un- 
true ; but her mind was made up to the worst, and her thoughts 
were of another state of being. 

A long pause occurred, in which Raoul remained steadfastly 
gazing at the starry canopy above. 

“ It is remarkable, Ghita,” he said, at length, “ that I — Raoul 
Yvard — the corsair — the man of wars and tempests — fierce 


WING-AND-WING. 


475 


combats and hair-breadth escapes — should be dying here, on 
this rock, with all those stars looking down upon me, as it might 
be, from your heaven, seeming to smile upon me !” 

“ Why not your heaven, as well as mine, Raoul ?” Ghita 
answered tremulously. “ It is as vast as He who dwells in it — 
whose throne it is — and can contain all who love him, and seek 
his mercy.” 

“ Dost thou think one like me would be received into his 
presence, Ghita ?” 

“ Do not doubt it — free from all error and weakness 
Himself, his Holy Spirit delights in the penitent and the 
sorrowful. Oh ! dearest, dearest Raoul, if thou would' st but 
pray !” 

A gleam like that of triumph glowed on the face of the 
wounded man ; and Ghita, in the intensity of her expectation, 
rose and stood over him, her own features filled with a momen- 
tary hope. 

“ Mon Feu-Follet !” exclaimed Raoul, letting the tongue reveal 

7 o o 

the transient thought which brought the gleam of triumph to 
his countenance. “ Thou, at least, hast escaped ! These English 
will not count thee among their victims, and glut their eyes on 
thy charming proportions !” 

Ghita felt a chill at her heart. She fell back on her seat, 
and continued watching her lover’s countenance with a feelino; 
of despair, though inextinguishable tenderness was still crowding 
around her soul. Raoul heard the movement ; and turning his 
head he gazed at the girl for quite a minute, with a portion of 
that intense admiration that used to gleam from his eyes in 
happier moments. 

“ It is better as it is, Ghita,” he said, “ than that I should 
live without thee. Fate has been kind in thus ending my 
misery.’’ 

“ Oh ! Raoul ! there is no fate but the holy will of 
God. Deceive not thyself at this awful moment ; bow 
down thy proud spirit in humility, and turn to Him for 
succor 1” 


476 


WING-AND-WING. 


“ Poor Ghita ! — Well, thine is not the only innocent mind 
by millions that hath been trammelled by priests ; and, I 
suppose, what hath commenced with the beginning will last till 
the end.” 

“The beginning and the end are both with God, Raoul. 
Since the commencement of time hath he established laws 
which have brought about the trials of thy life — the sadness of 
this very hour.” 

“ And dost thou think he will pardon all thy care of one so 
unworthy ?” 

Ghita bowed her head to the mattress over which she leaned, 
and buried her face in her hands. When the minute of 
prayer that succeeded was over, and her face was again raised 
with the flush of feeling tempered by innocence on it, Raoul 
v r as lying on his back, his eyes riveted again on the vault of 
heaven. His professional pursuits had led him further into the 
study of astronomy than comported with his general education ; 
and, addicted to speculation, its facts had often seized upon his 
fancy, though they had failed to touch his heart. Hitherto, 
indeed, he had fallen into the common error of limited 
research, and found a confirmation of his suspicions in the 
assumed grasp of his own reason. The dread moment that 
was so near could not fail of its influence, however ; and that 
unknown future over which he hung, as it might be, suspended 
by a hair, inevitably led his mind into an inquiry after the 
unknown God. 

“ Dost thou know, Ghita,” he asked, “ that the learned of 
France tell us that all yonder bright stars are worlds, peopled 
most probably like this of 6ur own, and to which the 
earth appears but as a star itself, and that, too, of no great 
mao-nitude ?” 

o 

“ And what is this, Raoul, to the power and majesty of Him 
who created the universe ? Ah ! think not of the things of his 
hand, but of Him who made them !” 

“ Hast thou ever heard, my poor Ghita, that the mind of man 
hath been able to invent instruments to trace the movements of 


WING-AND-WING. 


477 


all these worlds, and hath power even to calculate their wander-' 
ings with accuracy, for ages to come?” 

“ And dost thou know, my poor Raoul, what this mind of 
man is ?” 

“ A part of his nature — the highest quality ; that which 
maketh him the lord of earth.” 

“ His highest quality — and that which maketh him lord of 
earth, in one sense, truly ; but, after all, a mere fragment — a 
spot on the width of the heavens — of the spirit of God himself. 
It is in this sense that he hath been made in the image of 
his creator.” 

“ Thou think’st then, Ghita, that man is God, after all.” 

“ Raoul ! — Raoul ! if thou would’st not see me die with thee, 
interpret not my words in this manner !” 

“ Would it, then, be so hard to quit life in my company, 
Ghita ? To me it would seem supreme felicity were our places 
to be changed.” 

“ To go whither ? Hast thou bethought thee of this, my 
beloved ?” 

Raoul answered not for some time. His eyes were fastened 
on a bright star, and a tumult of thoughts began to crowd upon 
his brain. There are moments in the life of every man when 
the mental vision obtains clearer views of remote conclusions, 
equally in connexion with the past and the future, as there are 
days when an atmosphere purer than common more readily 
gives up its objects to the physical organs, — leaving the mind 
momentarily the master, almost without control. One of these 
gleams of truth passed over the faculties of the dying man, and 
it could not be altogether without its fruits. Raoul’s soul was 
agitated by novel sensations. 

“ Do thy priests fancy that they who have known and loved 
each other in this life,” he asked, “ will know and love each 
other in that which they fancy is to come ?” 

“ The life that is to come, Raoul, is one all love, or one all hatred. 
That we may know each other I try to hope ; nor do I see any 
reason for disbelieving it. My uncle is of opinion it must be so.” 


478 


WING-AND-WING. 


44 Thy uncle, Ghita ? What, Carlo Giuntotardi — he who 
seemeth never to think of things around him — doth a mind 
like his dwell on thoughts as remote and sublime as this ?” 

44 Little dost thou know or understand him, Raoul. His 
mind seldom ceases to dwell on thoughts like these ; this is 
the reason why earth, and all it contains, seem so indif- 
ferent.” 

Raoul made no answer, but appearing to suffer under the 
pain of his wound, the feelings of woman so far prevailed over 
Ghita’s tender nature that she had not the heart to press even 
his salvation on him at such a moment. She offered him 
soothing drinks, and nursed him with unabated care ; and 
when there seemed to be a cessation to his sufferings, she again 
passed minutes on her knees, her whole soul absorbed in his 
future welfare. An hour passed in this manner, all on or 
near the rock sleeping, overcome by fatigue, but Ghita and the 
dying man. 

44 That star haunts me, Ghita !” Raoul at length muttered. 
44 If it be really a world, some all-powerful hand must have 
created it. Chance never made a world, more than chance 
made a ship. Thought — mind — intelligence must have governed 
at the formation of one as well as of the other.” 

For months Ghita had not known an instant as happy as 
that. It appeared as if the mind of Raoul were about to 
extricate itself from the shallow philosophy so much in 
fashion, and which had hitherto deadened a nature so kind, 
an intellect ordinarily so clear. Could his thoughts but once 
take the right direction, she had strong confidence in the 
distinctness of their views, but most of all in the goodness of 
the Deity. 

44 Raoul,” she whispered, 44 God is there, as he is with us, on 
this rock. His spirit is everywhere. Bless him ! — bless him in 
thy soul, my beloved, and be for ever happy !” 

Raoul answered not. His face was upturned, and his eye 
still remained riveted on that particular star. Ghita would not 
disturb him, but taking his hand in hers, she once more knelt 


WING-AND-WING. 


479 


and resumed her prayers. Minute passed after minute, and 
neither seemed disposed to speak. At length Ghita became 
woman again, and bethought her of her patient’s bodily wants. 
It was time to administer the liquids of the surgeon, and she 
advanced to hold them to his lips. The eye was still fastened 
on the star, but the lips did not meet her with the customary 
smile of love. They were compressed, as when the body was 
about to mingle in the strife of a battle, a sort of stern resolution 
being settled on them. Raoul Yvard was dead. 

The discovery of the truth was a fearful moment to Ghita. 
Not a living being near her had the consciousness of her 
situation, all being bound in the sleep of the weary. The first 
feeling was that which belonged to her sex. She threw herself 
on the body, and embraced it wildly, giving way to those 
pent-up emotions which her lover, in his moody humors, 
was wont to accuse her of not possessing. She kissed the 
forehead, the cheeks, the pallid, stern lips of the dead ; and, for 
a time, there was the danger that her own spirit might pass 
away in the paroxysm of her grief. But it was morally 
impossible for Ghita to remain long under the influence of 
despair. Her gentle spirit had communed too long and too 
closely with her Heavenly Father, not to resort to his support 
in all the critical moments of life. She prayed, for the tenth 
time that night, and arose from her knees calm, if not absolutely 
resigned. 

The situation of Ghita was now as wildly picturesque as it 
was moving to her inmost spirit. All around her still slept, 
and that, to the eye, as profoundly as he who was only to rise 
again when the sea and the land give up their dead. The 
excitement and exertions of the past day produced their 
reaction, and seldom did sleep exercise a more profound 
influence. The fire was still burning bright on the islet of the 
gig-men, casting its rays fairly athwart the ruins, the different 
sleepers in them, and the immovable body of the dead. At 
moments, gusts of the Tramontana, which was now blowing 
fresh, descended so low as to fan the flames, when the glare 


480 


WING-AND-WING. 


that succeeded seemed to give a startling reality to all that 
surrounded the place. 

Still the girl was too highly sustained to be moved with any- 
thing but her loss, and her restless inquietude for the departed 
spirit. She saw that even her uncle slept, leaving her truly 
alone with Raoul. Once a feeling of desertion came over her, 
and she was inclined to arouse some of the sleepers. She did 
approach the spot where the surgeon lay, and her hand was 
raised to stir him, when a flash of light shot athwart the pallid 
countenance of Raoul, and she perceived th his eyes were still 
open. Drawing near, she bent over the bo<f , gazing long and 
wistfully into those windows of the soul that had so often 
beamed on her in manly tenderness, and she felt like a miser 
with his hoarded gold, unwilling to share it with any other. 

Throughout the livelong night did Ghita watch by the body 
of her well-beloved, now hanging over it with a tenderness no 
change could extinguish, now besieging heaven with her pray- 
ers. Not one awoke to interfere with the st.ange. happiness she 
felt in those pious offices, or to wound her sensibilities by the 
surprise or the sneers of the vulgar. Ere the day came, she 
closed the eyes of Raoul with her own hands, covered his body 
with a French ensign that lay upon the rock, and sat, patient 
and resigned, awaiting the moment when some of the others 
might be ready to aid her in performing the last pious offices 
in behalf of the dead. As a Romanist, she found a holy conso- 
lation in that beautiful portion of her church’s creed that admits 
of unceasing petition for the souls of the departed, even to the 
latest hour of earthly things. 

Winchester was the first to stir. Starting up, he appeared 
to be astonished at the situation in which he found himself ; but 
a glance around told the whole truth. Advancing towards 
Ghita, he was about to inquire after the welfare of Raoul, when, 
struck by the expression of her seraphic countenance, he turned 
to the body, and read the truth in the appropriate pall. It 
was no time for self-upbraidings, or for reproaches to others ; 
but arousing the sleepers, in a subdued and respectful man- 


WXNG-AND-WING. 


481 


ner, he gave to the place the quiet and seeming sanctity of a 
chapel. 

Carlo Giuntotardi soon after begged the dead body from the 
conquerors. There was no motive for denying the request, and 
it was placed in a boat and towed to the shore, accompanied by 
all who had remained. The heavy sirocco that soon succeeded 
drove the waves athwart the islet of the ruins, effectually erasing 
its stains of blood, and sweeping every trace of le Feu-Follet, and 
of the recent events, into the sea. 

At the foot of thys Scaricatojo the seamen constructed a rude 
bier, and thus the} Tore the dead up that wild and yet lovely 
precipice, persevering in their good work until they reached the 
cottage of Carlo Giuntotardi’s sister. A little procession accom- 
panied the body from the first, and Ghita being universally 
known and respected among the simple inhabitants of those 
heights, when it entered the street of St. Agata it had grown 
into a line that included a hundred believers. 

The convent, the • empty buildings of which still crown the 
summit of one of the adjacent hills, was then in existence as a 
religious community ; and the influence of Carlo Giuntotardi 
was sufficient to procure its offices in behalf of the dead. For 
three days and nights did the body of Raoul Yvard, the unbe- 
liever, lie in the chapel of that holy fraternity, his soul receiving 
the benefit of masses ; then it was committed to holy ground, 
to await the summons of the last trump. 

There is a strange disposition in the human breast to with- 
hold praise from a man when living, that is freely accorded to 
him when dead. Although we believe that envy, and its 
attendant evil detraction, are peculiarly democratic vices, mean- 
ing thereby that democracy is the most fertile field in which 
these human failings luxuriate, yet is there much reason to 
think that our parent nation is preeminent in the exhibition 
of the peculiarity first mentioned. That which subsequently 
awaited Napoleon, after his imprisonment and death, was now 
exhibited in the case of Raoul Yvard, on a scale suited to his 
condition and renown. From being detested in the English 

21 


482 


WING-AND-WING. 


fleet, lie got to be honored and extolled. Now that he was 
dead and harmless, his seamanship could be praised, his chival- 
ry emulated, and his courage glorified. Winchester, McBean, 
O’Leary, and Clinch, attended his funeral, quite as a matter of 
course. They had proved themselves worthy to be there ; but 
many others insisted on being of the party. Some came to get 
a last look of so celebrated an adventurer, even in his coffin ; 
others to say they had been present ; and not a few to catch a 
glimpse of the girl whose romantic but innocent passion had 
got to be the subject of much discourse in the ships. The result 
was such a procession, and such funeral honors, as threw the 
quiet little hamlet of St. Agata into commotion. All noted the 
particulars, and all were pleased but Ghita. On her, these 
tardy compliments failed of their effect, her soul being en- 
grossed with the great care of petitioning heaven in behalf of 
the deceased. 

Andrea Barrofaldi and Vito Viti, too, figured on this occa- 
sion ; the latter taking care to let all who would listen under- 
stand how closely he had been connected with “ Sir Smees ; ” 
no longer viewed as an impostor, but honored as a hero. He 
even created a little difficulty in claiming a precedency for the 
toga over arms on the occasion ; well knowing that if the 
vice-go vernatore got a conspicuous place in the ceremony, the 
podesta could not fail to be near at hand. The matter was 
settled entirely to Andrea’s satisfaction, if not to that of his 
friend. 

To confess the truth, Nelson was not sorrv for what had 
occurred. When he learned the desperate nature of Raoul’s 
defence, and heard some traits of his liberal conduct on various 
occasions, he felt a generous regret at his death ; but he thought 
even this preferable to escape. When Cuffe got in, and brought 
the report of the lugger’s fate, though he would have preferred 
her capture, the common sentiment settled down into a feeling 
that both lugger and commander had fared as well as a priva- 
teer and her people usually merited. 

As a matter of course, those concerned in the capture, and 


WING-AND-WING. 


483 


who survived the affair, reaped some advantage from their suc- 
cess. England seldom foils in the duty of conferring rewards, 
more especially in her marine. When Cook returned from his 
renowned voyages, it was not to meet with persecution and 
neglect, hut credit and justice. Nelson knew how to appreciate 
that spirit and enterprise which were so often exercised by him- 
self. As for Sir Frederick Dashwood, little could be done 


besides giving his name an honorable place on the list of those 

who had fallen in battle. His heir wore mourning, seemed 

tilled with sorrow, and inwardly rejoiced at being a baronet 

with some thousands a year. Lyon got his ship; and from 

that moment he ceased to consider the chase and all connected 

with le Feu-Follet an unprofitable thing. Airchy followed him 

to the Terpsichore, with visions of prize-money before his eyes, 

which were tolerably realized in the course of the succeeding 

five years. 

* 


’"Winchester was promoted into the Ringdove, and Griffin 
became first of the Proserpine. This, of course, made Telverton 

second, and left one vacancy. Thus for the orders had been 

/ %/ 

made out, when Curie dined with the admiral, by invitation, 


tete-a-tete. 


“ One of my objects in having you here to-day, Cuffe,” 
observed Nelson, as they sat together over their wine, the cabin 
cleared, “ was to say something about the vacant berth in your 
gun-room ; and the other was to beg a master’s-mate of you, in 
behalf of Berry. You remember that some of your people were 
received on board here before you got in, the other day ? ” 

“ I do, my lord ; and I meant to make my acknowledgments 
for the favor. The poor fellows had a warm time of it at the 
rocks, and deserved comfortable berths after it was over.” 

“ I believe we gave them as much ; at least, I know few suffer 
in this ship. Well, there was a mate among them, who is a 
little advanced, and who is likely to stick where he is, by what 
I learn. We want just such a man for the hold, and I have 
promised my Captain to speak to you about him. Don’t let 
him go if there’s any reason for wishing to retain him ; but we 


484 


WING-AND-WING. 


have three seamen ready to exchange against him ; good fellows, 
too, they tell me.” 

Cuffe picked some nuts, and appeared a little at a loss for a 
reply. Nelson saw this, and he fancied the other reluctant to 
give up his mate. 

“ Well, I see how it is,” he said, smiling. “We must do 
without him, and you will keep your Mr. Clinch. A thorough 
officer in a ship’s hold is an advantage not to be thrown away ; 
and I suppose, if Hotham had asked such a thing of old 
Agamemnon, he might have whistled for the favor. The deuce 
is in it, if we do not get as good a mate somewhere !” 

“ It’s not that, my lord — you’re welcome to the man, though 
a better in his station cannot be had. But, I was in hopes his 
recent good conduct, and liis long services, might give him a lift 
into the vacant gun-room berth.” 

The admiral appeared surprised, while he did not seem to be 
exactly pleased. 

“ It has a hard look, I grant you, Cuffe, to keep a poor devil 
ten or fifteen years in the same station, and this, too, after he 
has served long enough for a commission. I was a captain ten 
years younger than this Mr. Clinch must be to-day, and it does 
seem hard ; and yet I doubt not it is just. I have rarely known 
a midshipman or a mate passed over, in this way, that there was 
not some great fault at the bottom. We must think of the 
service, as well as of generosity.” 

“ I confess all this, my lord — and yet I did hope poor Clinch’s 
delinquencies would at length be forgotten.” 

“ If there are any particular reasons for it, I should like to 
hear them.” 

Cuffe now related all that had passed between himself and the 
master’s mate, taking care to give Jane a due place in his 
history. Nelson began to twitch the stump of his arm, and 
by the time the story w T as told, Clinch’s promotion was settled. 
An order was sent forthwith, to the secretary, to make out the 
orders, and Cuffe carried them back with him to the Proserpine 
that night, when he returned to his own ship. 


WING-AND-WING. 


485 


All Nelson’s promotions were confirmed by the Admiralty, 
pretty much as a matter of course. Among others was that of 
Clinch, who now became the junior lieutenant of the Proserpine. 
This elevation awakened new feelings within him. He dressed 
better ; refrained from the bottle ; paid more attention to his 
mind ; improved in manners, by keeping better company ; and, 
in the course of the next twelvemonth, had made rapid advance* 
towards respectability. At the end of that time, the ship was 
sent home ; and Jane, in her imagination at least, received the 
reward of all her virtuous constancy, by becoming his wife. 
Nor did Cuffe cease his friendly offices here. He succeeded in 
getting Clinch put in command of a cutter ; in which he cap- 
tured a privateer, after a warm action, within a month. This 
success procured him a gun-brig, and with her he was still more 
fortunate ; actually cutting out, with her boats, a French sloop- 
of-war, that was not half manned, it is true, but which was still 
considered a handsome prize. For this affair he got the sloop ; 
thus demonstrating the caprice of fortune, by whose means he 
found himself a commander in less than three years after he had 
been a mate. Here he stuck, however, for a long time, until he 
got another sloop in fair fight, when he was posted. From that 
moment, we have lost sight of him. 

Cuffe being sent into the Gulf of Genoa, shortly after, seized 
the opportunity to restore the vice-governatore and his friend to 
their native island. The fame of their deeds had preceded them, 
exaggerated, as a matter of course, by the tongue of rumor. It 
was understood that the two Elbans were actually in the fight 
in which Raoul Yvard fell ; and, there being no one to deny it, 
many even believed that Yito Viti, in particular, had killed 
the corsair with his own hand. A discreet forbearance on the 
part of the podesta always kept the matter so completely 
involved in mystery, that we question if any traveller who should 
visit the Island, even at this day, would be able to learn more 
than we now tell the reader. In a word, the podesta, for ever 
after, passed for a hero, through one of those mysterious processes 
by which men sometimes reach fame ; quite as much, perhaps, 


486 


WING-AND-WING. 


to their own astonishment, as to the surprise of everybody 
else. 

As for Itkuel, he did not appear in America for many years. 
When he did return, he came back with several thousand 
dollars, how obtained no one knew, nor did he choose to enter 
into particulars. He now married a widow, and settled in life. 
Ja due time he “experienced religion,” and, at this moment, is 
/ an active abolitionist, a patron of the temperance cause, tee- 
totally, and a general terror to evil-doers, under the appellation 
of Deacon Bolt. 

It was very different with the meek, pious, and single-minded 
Ghita ; though one was e’en a Homan Catholic, and the other a 
Protestant, and that, too, of the Puritan school. Our heroine 
had little of this world left to live for. She continued, however, 
to reside with her uncle, until his days were numbered ; and 
then she retired to a convent, not so much to comply with any 
religious superstitions, as to be able to pass her time, uninter- 
rupted, in repeating prayers for the soul of Raoul. To her latest 
hour, and she lived until quite recently, did this pure-minded 
creature devote herself to what she believed to be the eternal 
welfare of the man who had so interwoven himself with her 
virgin affections, as to threaten, at one time, to disturb the just 
ascendency ©f the dread Being who had created her. 


THE END. 













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